23 April 2018
About this Bulletin
The fifth Statistical Bulletin of 2018 releases the latest estimates of the size of the population, the number of births and deaths in the first quarter, and arrivals and departures for March. The data released in this Bulletin can be downloaded in Excel format from the ‘Population’ file on the St Helena Statistics website at: www.sainthelena.gov.sh/statistics-data. A PDF version of this Bulletin is available here.
Population estimates
At the end of March 2018 the estimated number of persons on St Helena, residents plus visitors, was 4,713. The resident population, excluding visitors, was estimated to be 4,628. This is a very slight increase compared to the end of February 2018 and a 4% increase compared to the end of March 2017. The St Helenian resident population was estimated to stand at 4,276, this is a 2% increase from the previous month and a 4% increase compared to the end of March 2017.
The number of people on St Helena at the end of January 2018 was 4,901 – the highest number recorded for at least the last 10 years. The population of St Helena is usually higher around the Christmas period, but an additional factor this year was the overlap of the RMS St Helena and the scheduled air service between October and February. The number declined by over 200 in February, following the typical trend after Christmas, when visitors return back to their usual residence or off-shore employment.
Arrivals and departures
The total number of arrivals for March 2018 was estimated to be 474, bringing the total for the first quarter 2018 to 1,848. This is an increase of 21%, or 315 persons, from the previous quarter and a 47% increase, or 592 persons, from the same quarter in 2017. However, for January to early February 2017 the RMS St Helena was still in service, overlapping with the scheduled air service provided by Airlink.
Of the 474 arrivals in March 2018, 73% arrived by air, with the remaining 27% arriving by yacht or other vessels. The number of air arrivals was 348, which was a slight increase compared to February (318). However, due to timing of the scheduled air service, there were five plane arrivals from Johannesburg in March compared with four in February.
Births and deaths
In the first quarter of 2018, there were a total of six births and 13 deaths on St Helena; this is a slight decrease in the number of deaths compared to the same quarter of the previous year. However the number of births more than halved compared to the same period of 2017, where 13 births were reported. In recent years, the number of deaths has exceeded births. During the last two quarters there were three times more deaths than births, 31 deaths and 10 births.
