Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Jamaica at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
13%
of electricity
Food imported
21%
of merchandise imports · ~US$1,576m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Jamaica.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Jamaica, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
One in eight adults has diabetes
The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 12.5% of Jamaican adults had diabetes in 2024, about 235,600 people.
Source: International Diabetes Federation, Jamaica · 2024
SoberingHealth
Four in ten women are obese
In the 2017 national health survey, 41.2% of women were obese compared with 14.9% of men, and 53.8% of people aged 15 and over were overweight or obese. About a third, 34%, had high blood pressure.
SoberingFood
A third drink sugary drinks every day
In 2017, 32.6% of Jamaicans aged 15 and over had a sugar sweetened drink at least once a day, while only 12% ate fruit two or more times a day.
SoberingHealth
Hundreds lose a leg to diabetes each year
The health minister said in 2024 that 300 to 400 Jamaicans lose a lower limb each year, and that 95 per cent of them do so because of complications from diabetes.
SoberingFood
Most schools ignored the sugary drink limits
Limits on sugary drinks in schools took effect in January 2019. A 2022 survey of 35 schools by the health and education ministries found most were not complying, and the health minister said no sanctions would follow.
SoberingEnvironment
Kingston's main dump keeps catching fire
The National Solid Waste Management Authority confirmed two fires at the Riverton disposal site in Kingston in February 2026, and said there was reason to believe they may have been set deliberately.
SoberingEnvironment
Most piped water never reaches a paying tap
The National Water Commission reported that islandwide non-revenue water ran between 68 and 71 per cent a month in its 2019 to 2020 financial year. Treat water as precious even where it looks plentiful.
Source: National Water Commission, Annual Report 2019 to 2020 · 2020
RemarkableHistory
Maroon mountains are World Heritage
The Blue and John Crow Mountains became a mixed natural and cultural World Heritage site in 2015. Maroons who resisted colonial rule left trails and settlements there now known as the Nanny Town Heritage Route. Of its 1,357 flowering plant species, 87 grow nowhere else.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Blue and John Crow Mountains · 2015
RemarkableNature
The largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere
The Homerus swallowtail, found only in Jamaica, is the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere. It now survives in just two places: the Blue and John Crow Mountains and Cockpit Country.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Blue and John Crow Mountains · 2025
RemarkableCulture
Reggae is UNESCO listed heritage
Reggae music of Jamaica was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2018. UNESCO notes it grew up among marginalised communities, mainly in West Kingston.
Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Reggae music of Jamaica · 2018
RemarkableNature
An iguana came back from extinction
The Jamaican iguana was believed extinct from the 1940s until 1990, when it was found surviving in about 3.8 square miles of dry forest in the Hellshire Hills. It remains critically endangered.
Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Jamaican Iguana · 1990
RemarkableFood
Blue Mountain coffee has strict borders
Only coffee grown between 3,000 and 5,500 feet in St Andrew, St Thomas, Portland and St Mary can be called Jamaica Blue Mountain, under rules made under the Coffee Industry Regulation Act of 1948.
Source: WIPO, In Search of a Perfect Cup · 1948
RemarkableNature
Cockpit Country is closed to mining
In 2022 the government completed the declaration of 78,024 hectares of Cockpit Country as a protected area and issued a notice prohibiting mining there. It is the island's largest protected area on land.
Worth knowingEnvironment
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm on record here
Melissa made landfall near New Hope in Westmoreland on 28 October 2025 as a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest on record to hit Jamaica. Officials reported 45 deaths, and the World Bank put physical damage at about US$12.2 billion, 41 per cent of Jamaica's 2024 GDP.
The History of Jamaica.
Jamaica carries a globally influential living culture. Reggae, added to UNESCO's list of intangible heritage, sits alongside ska and mento as music still made and danced every day.
Where the name comes from
From the Taíno Xaymaca, widely read as 'land of wood and water' or 'land of springs'. Source: national and regional toponymic records.
The land itself: mountainous, with a narrow and broken coastal plain. Its high point is Blue Mountain Peak, 2,256 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Xaymaca
The Taino site at White Marl in St Catherine was lived in from about AD 900 to 1500. Rescue excavation there produced three burials radiocarbon dated to cal. AD 1221 to 1641, one of them possibly from the Spanish colonial period, alongside a tentatively identified Theobroma cacao starch grain, the first finding of pre-colonial cocoa in the Caribbean islands. The Taino named the island Xaymaca, possibly meaning land of springs, and the name Jamaica seems to come from it.
How it got here
Refuge, resistance, treaty
Spanish rule from 1494 forced the Taino into servitude, and disease and ill treatment cut their numbers. When England took the island in 1655, the Spanish freed the people they had enslaved, who went to the mountainous interior and were joined by others escaping the plantations. These Maroon communities, with Nanny Town the principal settlement of the Windward Maroons, fought two wars against the British and won peace treaties that left them free and self-governing. Slavery was abolished in 1834, the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 brought direct Crown rule, and the labour unrest of 1938 produced the unions and parties that carried Jamaica to independence in 1962.
The timeline
c. AD 700
The first dated settlement.
Radiocarbon dates from the Redware site at Paradise Park, near Savanna-la-Mar, show that the island's first pottery-making settlers were living there by about AD 700. The only other dated Redware site, Bottom Bay, was dated in 1967 and is treated with caution. Source
AD 900 to 1500
White Marl.
People live at White Marl in St Catherine, a Taino site occupied from about AD 900 to 1500. Source
AD 1221 to 1641
Burials at White Marl.
Three burials excavated at White Marl date to between AD 1221 and 1641, and one person may have lived under Spanish rule. A tentatively identified cacao starch grain is the first finding of pre-colonial cocoa in the Caribbean islands. Source
Before 1494
Xaymaca.
The Taino name the island Xaymaca, a word which possibly meant land of springs. The name Jamaica seems to be a corruption of it. Source
1494
Spanish arrival.
Columbus reaches the island and Spanish rule follows until 1655. The Taino are forced into servitude, and new diseases and ill treatment cut their numbers sharply. Source
1655
English capture, and the Maroons.
England takes the island from Spain. The fleeing Spanish free the people they had enslaved, who take to the hills and are later joined by others escaping the plantations. They become known as the Maroons. Source
1700s
Nanny Town.
Maroons led by Queen Nanny fight the English in the 18th century across a network of mountain trails and battle sites. Nanny Town was the principal settlement of the Windward Maroons and is now an archaeological site. Source
1834 to 1838
Abolition and apprenticeship.
Slavery is abolished, followed by an apprenticeship period that ends in 1838. Source
1865
Morant Bay.
The Morant Bay Rebellion breaks out, and afterwards Jamaica's government changes from representative rule to a Crown Colony. Source
1938
Labour rebellion.
Strikes and unrest by workers lead to the founding of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and the People's National Party. Source
1962
Independence.
Jamaica becomes independent on 6 August, after more than 300 years of British colonial rule. Source
Jamaica National Heritage Trust · National Library of Jamaica, History Notes · International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · Royal Geographical Society, The Maroons of Jamaica · IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Blue and John Crow Mountains · WIPO, In Search of a Perfect Cup · Jamaica Gleaner, The importance of ital food in our culture · Jamaica Observer, Celebrating Jamaica50: Glistening Waters · Jamaica Observer, PM says work completed to protect Cockpit Country · Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Jamaica history, Columbian and Spanish · Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Jamaica history, English · Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Jamaica history, Independence · National Library of Jamaica, Emancipation exhibition · National Library of Jamaica, Jamaica Independence 1962 · UNEP-WCMC World Heritage datasheet, Blue and John Crow Mountains
Nature and Biodiversity in Jamaica.
19.9 per cent of Jamaica's land was protected in 2024, across 173 protected areas. Marine protection is 0.7 per cent of territorial waters, and that is the weakness. The flagship is exceptional, and not only ecologically.
Is wild Jamaica protected? 19.9% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Jamaica?
Forest cover56.19%
Terrestrial protected area20%
Marine protected area0.7%
313 listed as threatened.
World Bank Open Data · Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC / WDPA) · GBIF occurrence data · IUCN Red List, threatened species by country (Summary Statistics, Table 5) · World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters), Jamaica · Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3
Found only here. Doctor bird, Jamaican iguana, Homerus swallowtail and 21 frogs found only here
The watchlist
ThreatenedPhyllonycteris aphylla Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (mammal).
ThreatenedYellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedHawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedReef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedErithalis orbiculata Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
ThreatenedFire coral (Millepora complanata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedHamlet (Epinephelus striatus) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (species).
ThreatenedBrain coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Phyllonycteris aphylla
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Jamaica. GBIF holds 4 verified occurrence records.
Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Jamaica. GBIF holds 165 verified occurrence records.
Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Jamaica. GBIF holds 227 verified occurrence records.
Reef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Jamaica. GBIF holds 32 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Jamaica filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Kingston, mapped and named in the open record for Jamaica. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Portland, mapped and named in the open record for Jamaica. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Saint Andrew, mapped and named in the open record for Jamaica. OpenStreetMap.
Botanical garden in Saint Andrew, mapped and named in the open record for Jamaica. OpenStreetMap.
Botanical garden in Saint Thomas, mapped and named in the open record for Jamaica. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Jamaica.
Jamaica earned the name land of wood and water honestly. Supply is overwhelmingly rainfall, expressed as rivers, streams, wells and springs, and desalination arrived only in 2016 as a single private project, so unlike most of this region Jamaica is not structurally dependent on making water from the sea. Two caveats matter.
Does Jamaica have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
Rainfall as rivers, streams, wells and springs; desalination only since 2016
Cleanest water: Montego Bay Marine Park
How much fresh water does Jamaica have, per person?
3,812 m³
Jamaica
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Jamaica withdraws about 1,340 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 12.4% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as low water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 17%, homes and towns 73%, industry 10%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Jamaica beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Bags, straws and polystyrene from 2019; food containers 2024; microbeads 2025.
✕Solo travel: rated take care on the record for this destination.
✕Marine protection: 1% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Coral Garden Community Beach, Crab Key Beach, Old Harbour Bay Fishing Beach, Small Lonely Beach, Waves Beach, Wicki Wacki beach. That is 6 named beaches in the public record for Jamaica, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
73.6%
of people have safely managed sanitation
73.6% of people here use a safely managed sanitation service, meaning waste is contained, emptied and treated rather than reaching the ground or the sea untreated (2024, World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, SDG 6.2.1). The rest is what the rivers and the coast receive.
How is the sea around Jamaica doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Hawksbill turtle nesting late April–August, hatchlings June–December. Luminous Lagoon at Falmouth is a year-round bioluminescent bay, one of only four in the world.
Nearshore
Protected water
0.7% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Montego Bay Marine Park.
The record
Measured
Jamaica earned the name land of wood and water honestly. Supply is overwhelmingly rainfall, expressed as rivers, streams, wells and springs, and desalination arrived only in 2016 as a single private project, so unlike most of this region Jamaica is not structurally dependent on making water from the sea.
Jamaica scored 74 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 68th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
0.7%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Is the tap water safe in Jamaica?
The National Water Commission treats and chlorinates the water it supplies to about 2 million people, and its monthly tests in Kingston and St Andrew in March and April 2025 met Ministry of Health and WHO based standards, with at least 98 per cent of samples carrying the required chlorine. Rural St Andrew samples showed slightly more faecal coliform than the city, though still within the limit. These reports do not cover private, community or rainwater supplies, so where your water does not come from the NWC, or after a storm, boil or filter it.
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 1 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 12.4% of what Jamaica renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is inside the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply has headroom.
Seaweed on the beaches. Sargassum seaweed has been washing up on Jamaican beaches since Caribbean wide influxes began in 2011. Jamaica's tourism minister said in 2019 that influxes returned in 2014 and 2015 and reached unprecedented levels across the region in 2018, and that rotting mats release hydrogen sulphide. NEPA's clean-up plan, set up after the 2015 influx, has beach operators rake and bury smaller amounts, with parish councils and the national solid waste agency removing build-ups over about one metre.
When is the best time to visit Jamaica? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Jamaica actually have?
Nature renews about 3,812 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Jamaica 123 of 208 countries measured, putting it in the wetter half of the world. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
FAO AQUASTAT · WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme · World Bank Open Data · National Water Commission, Water Quality Summary Report for KSA, March and April 2025 · National Water Commission, About NWC · National Water Commission, Annual Report 2019 to 2020 · National Water Commission, NRW Programme · Jamaica Information Service, Minister Bartlett urges collective regional response to curtail growing sargassum threats (28 July 2019) · Jamaica Information Service, NEPA targets multi agency response to reduce sargassum build-up (26 October 2015) · Ocean Health Index, Jamaica · Ocean Health Index, Global scores
Food and Drink in Jamaica.
Jamaica farms far more of its land than its neighbours. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 39 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Bahamas.
Where does the food in Jamaica come from?
20.5% imported
about US$1,576m a year
On the plate: Ground provisions, yam, breadfruit, cassava, plantain, green banana, ackee (national fruit), callaloo, dasheen, coco, cho cho, pumpkin, sweet potato, gungo peas, coconut. Export staples: sugarcane, banana, coffee, cocoa.
2 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$1,576m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 20.5% of everything Jamaica buys in from abroad is food, roughly 2 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2023, World Bank). Farming itself is 8.7% of the economy and 38.5% of the land is agricultural, of which 11.1% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Jamaica? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined68.7%
Diabetes12.5%
The health minister said in May 2024 that 300 to 400 Jamaicans lose a lower limb each year, and that 95 per cent of them do so because of complications from diabetes. In June 2025 the head of a prosthetics clinic said at least five amputations are carried out every week in the public health system. Source: Jamaica Information Service.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 61.1%.
Can Jamaica feed itself?
11.5%
Arable land
38.5%
Agricultural land
224,831
Farmers
296,526
Arable acres
8.7%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Blue Mountain Coffee (signature crop)
Feeding itself
Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 38.5 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Bahamas.
Certification
This is the clearest case in the Caribbean of plant based and organic being two different things, which is exactly why we split them. Jamaica has one of the deepest plant based traditions anywhere: Ital is unprocessed, unsalted and plant based as a matter of faith, and it predates the word vegan.
Water for crops
Jamaica earned the name land of wood and water honestly. Supply is overwhelmingly rainfall, expressed as rivers, streams, wells and springs, and desalination arrived only in 2016 as a single private project, so unlike most of this region Jamaica is not structurally dependent on making water from the sea.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 38.5% of the country is agricultural land and 11.1% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
SugarcaneYamsOrangesCoconutsBananasPlantainsPumpkins/squashPineapples
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Jamaica are sugarcane, yams, coconuts, oranges and bananas (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: KET'S ORGANIC GOURMET FARM, Bluefields Organic Farm, The Source Farm Foundation, Kezmar Organic Farm, Tafara Farm Jamaica, Fitzroy's Organic Farm. They are among 39 farm shops and markets we have checked and listed ourselves, so the money goes to the grower rather than the importer. The checked farm shops
Checked kitchens from the directory: Rasta Ade Refreshments, ital restaurant and juice bar in Negril: Ital cooking on Seven Mile Beach, fresh juices, jerk hummus; Life Yard, ital cafe in Kingston: Rastafarian eco-village & permaculture urban farm with ital cafe; The Cheffing Don, restaurant in Kingston: Vegan/ital, farm-to-table Clarendon sourcing; served in calabash; Ibo Spice Portal, ital shack in Kingston: Breadfruit burger & ital stew in a calabash; coal-stove cooking; Mi Hungry, raw cafe in Kingston: Raw 'nyam-burger', raw pizza with nut cheese, natural juices. Every kitchen listed here is checked for how plant based the menu really is before it earns its place.
Is this grown in Jamaica?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
Ground provisions, yamBreadfruitCassavaPlantainGreen bananaCallalooDasheen
Climate and Energy in Jamaica.
Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro. Emissions sit at roughly 2.8 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), low by rich world standards but tied to fossil fuel imports rather than clean supply. The updated climate pledge and a 50 per cent renewable electricity target for 2030 are credible on paper but far from delivered. A dependence on shipped fossil fuel and a slow grid transition keep the island in the fossil reliant band.
What powers Jamaica?
Renewable 12.6%Fossil 87.4%
JPS is owned 40 per cent by Japan's Marubeni, 40 per cent by Korea East West Power and about 19 per cent by the Government of Jamaica. Its all island licence runs to 8 July 2027. In July 2025 the government said it would not renew the licence on existing terms, citing Condition 27, which lets it acquire the licensed business when the licence ends, though it said it did not intend to run JPS itself. Cabinet approved draft heads of terms for a new licence in March 2026, and as of September 2026 no new licence had been announced. After Hurricane Melissa the government agreed to lend JPS US$150 million for grid repairs and said it would arrange to acquire JPS assets if talks failed.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
2.84 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
4.56 tonnes
The grid
Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro. Emissions sit at roughly 2.84 tonnes of CO2 per person, low by rich world standards but tied to fossil fuel imports rather than clean supply.
Pollution
Jamaica has the most comprehensive plastics regime of any island we cover. The Natural Resources Conservation Authority (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition) Order 2018 banned, from 1 January 2019, single use plastic bags below a stated thickness, expanded polystyrene foam packaging and single use plastic drinking straws, with the bag thickness threshold raised in 2021 and polystyrene food containers losing their exemption on 1 January 2020.
Water stress
Jamaica earned the name land of wood and water honestly. Supply is overwhelmingly rainfall, expressed as rivers, streams, wells and springs, and desalination arrived only in 2016 as a single private project, so unlike most of this region Jamaica is not structurally dependent on making water from the sea.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.87.3%
2Industry Bauxite/alumina mining.named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.7.1
4On the record Jamaica has the most comprehensive plastics regime of any island we cover.
What has Jamaica promised on climate?
Net zero, whole economy2060 or earlier
Electricity renewable today12.8% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target19.9% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target0.7% by 2025
The net-zero target year on file with Climate Watch is 2060 or earlier, status: in policy document; in political pledge. Measured against it, 12.8% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 87.2% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year2.84 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy3.22 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.69 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.33 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy2.22 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy1.47 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Jamaica emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. In July 2021 the World Bank priced a US$185 million catastrophe bond for Jamaica, and the bank says Jamaica was the first government in the Caribbean, and the first of any small island state, to sponsor a cat bond on its own. A US$150 million renewal followed in April 2024. Hurricane Melissa triggered a full US$150 million payout in November 2025, based on the storm's central pressure and path. CCRIF, the regional disaster insurer, paid Jamaica a further US$91.9 million, including US$70.8 million that CCRIF calls the single largest payout it has ever made. In May 2026 the World Bank priced a new US$200 million hurricane bond for Jamaica.
Climate Watch (WRI) · UNFCCC NDC Registry · World Bank Open Data · UK DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors · World Bank, Catastrophe bond provides Jamaica $185 million in storm protection (19 July 2021) · World Bank, World Bank returns to the cat bond market providing financial protection to Jamaica (25 April 2024) · World Bank, Hurricane Melissa triggers 100% payout of $150 million catastrophe bond for Jamaica (7 November 2025) · CCRIF SPC, CCRIF provides US$91.9 million in payouts to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa · World Bank, World Bank prices catastrophe bond for disaster protection for Jamaica (18 May 2026) · Nationwide 90FM, Government of Jamaica will not renew JPS licence (July 2025) · Jamaica Information Service, Gov't to end current JPS licence in 2027 (1 July 2025) · Jamaica Gleaner, Gov't to lend US$150m to JPS (25 November 2025) · Jamaica Observer, We have options (5 March 2026) · Jamaica Homes News, JPS licence status (9 September 2026)
AI and Data Centres in Jamaica.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Jamaica.
Data centres
0
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
12.6 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Jamaica?
Almost everything a machine here consumes is burned fossil fuel.
Renewable 12.6%Fossil 87.4%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 12.8% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Jamaica has 0 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, alongside 1 internet exchange (Jamaica Internet Exchange Point).
Where the cables land. 9 landing points · Black River, Bull Bay, Copa Club, Harbour View
Economy and Tourism in Jamaica.
40% residents to 60% visitors across a year. 4,233,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 2,837,077 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Jamaica
1,330k
Visitors a year
0.5
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Jamaica?· for every $100 Jamaica earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2012 peak
$ 140The worst year on the IMF record. Jamaica owed $140 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2012signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 66What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2026).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · projected 2031
$ 60The IMF's own forecast has this falling to $60 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 Jamaica earns in a year, it owes $66 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest on that is paid before schools, clinics or coastline get their turn.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Jamaica?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 4,233,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 2,837,077 residents, 1.5 visitors for every resident (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Jamaica is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is 20.5% of everything Jamaica imports (2023, World Bank), so a large part of every restaurant bill is paid to a supplier abroad. Eating what the land here actually grows, sugarcane, yams, oranges, coconuts, bananas, plantains, pumpkins/squash, pineapples, keeps that money with the grower.
sails in4
The power
87.2% of the electricity is fossil (2021, World Bank). Lighting, cooling and hot water are paid for largely in imported fuel.
burns away5
What actually stays
Of the two parts of a visitor's bill that can be measured here, the plate and the power mostly leave Jamaica. Choosing locally grown food is the part of that a visitor can actually control.
less than you think6
Pay the bank first
Jamaica owes $66 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$66 per $1007
Community chest
Tourism earns 48.1% of everything Jamaica makes from exports (2011, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
48.1% of exports8
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Singapore a return economy seat is 3.22 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
3.22 t CO29
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$23 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$23bnGDPUS$22.7bn
Agriculture, share of GDP8.7%
Visitors a year1,329,700
Visitors per resident0.5
Residents~2,837,077
Agriculture
Farming is 8.7% of the economy. Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region.
Natural materials
Jamaica does have this, and it is one of the best everyday swaps in the Caribbean: you can sit down and eat a meal out of a calabash. The packie is a hard shelled gourd.
Energy
Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro. Emissions sit at roughly 2.84 tonnes of CO2 per person, low by rich world standards but tied to fossil fuel imports rather than clean supply.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Jamaica?
By rooms · company records and press.
Le Mirage · ~12 roomsOwnership not publishednot published
Camp Cabarita · ~5 roomsIndependentnot published
Charela Inn · ~59 roomsIndependentnot published
Geejam Hotel · ~19 roomsIndependentnot published
Visitors, over time
20153,692k
20163,837k
20174,276k
20184,319k
20194,233k
20201,330k
The Ministry of Tourism says Jamaica earned about US$4.3 billion from 4.3 million visitors in 2024. In 2025, the year Hurricane Melissa struck, it received 3.7 million visitors, made up of 2.6 million stopover arrivals and 1.1 million cruise passengers, and earned an estimated US$4 billion. The PIOJ put tourism's direct share of GDP at 9.5 per cent in 2019, while the Jamaica Tourist Board says the sector contributes over 30 per cent of GDP once indirect effects are included. Up to May 2026 Jamaica received just over one million stopover visitors and 664,000 cruise passengers, with only about 70 per cent of hotel rooms available.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
World Bank Open Data · International Monetary Fund · UN Tourism (UNWTO) · UN Comtrade via World Bank WITS · Jamaica Information Service, Jamaica earns US$4.3 billion from tourism (7 January 2025) · Jamaica Observer (JIS), Jamaica welcomes over 1.5 million visitors up to May (23 June 2026) · Jamaica Observer, JTB deputy chairman on tourism's share of GDP (5 January 2025) · Jamaica Observer, Jamaica's export earnings fell 8.6% during Jan to Nov last year: STATIN (27 March 2025) · US Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center: Jamaica (2024 report)
Visiting Jamaica, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking ground provisions, yam, breadfruit, cassava, plantain, green banana, ackee (national fruit), callaloo, dasheen, coco, cho cho, pumpkin, sweet potato, gungo peas, coconut. export staples: sugarcane, banana, coffee, cocoa. over imported menus. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays. Eco tours
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Route taxis and local drivers; a guide driver reaches the Blue Mountains far better than a hire car
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
Split the trip between the Blue Mountains, for coffee farms, Maroon history and cool forest walks, and one stretch of coast, rather than staying inside a resort. Eat Ital at a Rastafari kitchen, buy fruit and ground provisions at a market, and hire a local guide driver. After Hurricane Melissa, check that your hotel in the west has reopened before you book.
Best time: November to mid-December is the sweet spot: dry, warm and quieter than the January to March peak. Blue Mountain coffee is harvested roughly September to January. Hurricane season runs June to November, wettest in September and October.
Getting around
Route taxis and local drivers; a guide driver reaches the Blue Mountains far better than a hire car
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate is ground provisions, yam, breadfruit, cassava, plantain, green banana, ackee (national fruit), callaloo, dasheen, coco, cho cho, pumpkin, sweet potato, gungo peas, coconut. export staples: sugarcane, banana, coffee, cocoa.. Ital is the real thing: not a menu category but the food practice of a living faith, unprocessed, unsalted and plant based long before the word vegan reached the Caribbean.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Rural water is the practical thing to plan for. Just over half of rural households were on an improved drinking water source in 2019, so ask where you are staying rather than assuming.
Buy fresh and buy local, because Jamaica actually grows it. The thing to skip is the imported processed middle, which is where the food bill really goes.
Eat from the calabash. Ital kitchens serve in gourd bowls, and a straw bankra basket does the job of a plastic bag, so this is one of the easier places to travel without single use plastic. Buy from the person who wove or carved it, because cheap imports have been pushing the real thing out since the 1990s.
Book Maroon and Rastafari visits with the communities themselves rather than through resellers. The Rastafari Indigenous Village is reservation only and limits numbers on purpose, which is a good sign rather than an inconvenience.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Le MirageOwnership not published · 12 rooms
Camp CabaritaIndependent · 5 rooms
Charela InnIndependent · 59 rooms
Geejam HotelIndependent · 19 rooms
None of the 4 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Jamaica.
How well is Jamaica actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Jamaica scores 55 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That matters here because every pledge on this page is only as good as the machinery meant to deliver it.
What is daily life in Jamaica really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Route taxis and local drivers; a guide driver reaches the Blue Mountains far better than a hire car
79.9%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 5.5% of GDP and 17.9% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 84.5% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2024).
Made in Jamaica.
Jamaica does have this, and it is one of the best everyday swaps in the Caribbean: you can sit down and eat a meal out of a calabash. The packie is a hard shelled gourd. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Jamaica actually sells the world
STATIN figures show Jamaica earned US$1.70 billion from goods exports between January and November 2024, while it spent US$6.70 billion on imports, nearly four times as much. Alumina was the biggest earner at US$607.2 million, up 41.2 per cent on 2023. The US Geological Survey says mining and quarrying, mostly bauxite and alumina, made up about 45 per cent of domestic export revenue in 2024, when Jamaica was the world's seventh largest bauxite producer. The top export markets were the USA, Russia, the Netherlands, Iceland and Canada.
Made now · natural materials
Jamaica does have this
Worked in Jamaica from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Calabash plates and bowls
Worked in Jamaica from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Bowls
Worked in Jamaica from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Cups
Worked in Jamaica from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Could make · grown here already
Ground provisions, yam
Grown in Jamaica and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Breadfruit
Grown in Jamaica and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Cassava
Grown in Jamaica and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Jamaica produces about US$23 billion a year, which is roughly US$8,003 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 8.7% of that, while food is 20.5% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in. With 11.1% of the land arable, the raw material for that is already in the ground.
See the verified makersCulture in Jamaica.
Reggae
Jamaica's best known music, which grew out of ska and rock steady among marginalised communities, mainly in West Kingston. UNESCO added it to its intangible heritage list in 2018.
Mento
Jamaica's first original popular music form, a mix of African and British musical elements.
Christmas
Dancehall
Jamaica's dancehall music takes centre stage around the Christmas holidays with the major stage show Sting.
Kumina
A ceremony of singing, dancing and drumming with Kongo roots, found mainly in St Thomas and Portland and usually held for wakes, burials and memorials.
1940s
Nyabinghi drumming
Rastafari gatherings that emerged in the 1940s, using drumming and dancing in worship. They mark Haile Selassie's birthday on 23 July, Ethiopian New Year and Ethiopian Christmas on 6 January.
1940sRastafari ital foodItal, meaning natural, is a way of eating and living based on the Rastafari faith that avoids processed food.
Does Jamaica protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Jamaica carries a globally influential living culture. Reggae, added to UNESCO's list of intangible heritage, sits alongside ska, mento and dancehall as music still made and danced every day. Rastafari livity, Kumina and Nyabinghi drumming, and Revival Zion keep African rooted spiritual and ancestral traditions alive.
Who it belongs to. The Maroons are the reason Jamaica scores top here. These are communities descended from Africans who freed themselves, held territory against the British and kept their own governance and language. There are three main Windward Maroon communities, Moore Town in the Rio Grande Valley, Charles Town in the Buff Bay Valley and Scotts Hall in the Wag Water Valley, with Accompong the Leeward town in St Elizabeth.
Only here. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is protected as a registered certification mark, and only coffee grown between 3,000 and 5,500 feet in St Andrew, St Thomas, Portland and St Mary may carry the name. It sold at around fourteen times the price of standard retail roasted coffee. The Homerus swallowtail, found only here, is the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere..
The Future of Jamaica.
Three futures for Jamaica, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Bob Marley museum (Kingston), White Marl Taino Midden and Museum (Saint Catherine), Natural History Museum of Jamaica (Kingston), Liberty Hall (Kingston), Trench Town Culture Yard Museum (Richmond Park). OpenStreetMap.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 48.1% to 56.5% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 5.66% to 12.8% across 26 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 3.52 t to 2.84 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 1,752k to 1,330k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 15.9% to 19.9% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 24.5% to 13.9% across 30 recorded years.
How much sea is protected?
Protected sea moved from 0.8% to 0.7% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 45.9% to 39% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 50.6% to 59.4% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 18.4 µg/m³ to 21.7 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 4,329 m³ to 3,812 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 37.3% to 61.1% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 80.4% to 97.7% across 29 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 2,631 to 8,003 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 2,500k to 2,837k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 13.7% to 10.5% across 26 recorded years.
How much energy does one person use?
Energy per person moved from 1,204 kg to 837 kg across 29 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 1.4% to 1.6% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 71.5 yrs to 71.6 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 1,362 kg/ha to 1,342 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 168 kg/ha to 56.4 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 49.4% to 40.6% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 14 $/m3 to 12.6 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 5.98% to 7.6% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 5,212 km2 to 6,163 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How much electricity per person?
Electric power use moved from 1,960 kWh to 1,202 kWh across 29 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 1.04 to 0.6 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 0.34 to 0.75 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 2.06 to 2.59 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 7.41 to 9.45 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have industrial processes emissions moved?
Industrial Processes emissions moved from 0.25 to 0.57 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 3.76 to 0.72 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have transportation emissions moved?
Transportation emissions moved from 1.12 to 2.81 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, organic farming at 1/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift organic farming
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Jamaica's record. This is the clearest case in the Caribbean of plant based and organic being two different things, which is exactly why we split them.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift energy
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Jamaica's record. Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift food and farming
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Jamaica's record. Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 38.5 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Baham…
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Jamaica.
Who is in charge of Jamaica now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Andrew Holness
Prime Minister
Andrew Holness is the head of government of Jamaica, in office since 3 March 2016. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 68.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 67.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 46.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Unchanged from 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 75.1 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 73.9 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 58.1 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 57.2 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 55.8 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 56.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Andrew HolnessPrime Minister
ParliamentLegislature, bicameral
Last election3 September 2025
Constitution1962, as revised to 2023
Government typeparliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Jamaica national goals: climate commitments on record · as recorded by Climate Watch, World Resources Institute
2060
Net zero
In Policy Document<br>In Political PledgeNet-zero target as recorded by Climate Watch. Status: In Policy Document (8/29/2025)
In Political Pledge (12/12/2020) Source
In Political Pledge (12/12/2020) Source
Gases covered
All GHGs Covered Source
Sectors covered
All Sectors Source
International offsets
International Offsets Included Source
Plain Answers About Jamaica.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is Jamaica sustainable?
Jamaica scores 67 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. Jamaica is a mountainous Caribbean island whose forested eastern peaks, now the Blue and John Crow Mountains World Heritage site, once sheltered Maroon communities who resisted colonial rule. Coffee grown there between 3,000 and 5,500 feet can carry the Jamaica Blue Mountain name. Rastafari Ital cooking favours natural food with no salt or chemical additives. Rivers such as the Martha Brae run down to the sea, and the limestone Cockpit Country in the west is the island's largest protected area on land.
Is the water in Jamaica safe and plentiful?
Jamaica earned the name land of wood and water honestly. Supply is overwhelmingly rainfall, expressed as rivers, streams, wells and springs, and desalination arrived only in 2016 as a single private project, so unlike most of this region Jamaica is not structurally dependent on making water from the sea. Two caveats matter.
Can Jamaica feed itself?
Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 38.5 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Bahamas. It genuinely feeds itself in fresh produce.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Jamaica?
Ital is the real thing: not a menu category but the food practice of a living faith, unprocessed, unsalted and plant based long before the word vegan reached the Caribbean. The Rastafari Indigenous Village outside Montego Bay is community led, has been running for over 19 years, is reservation only and deliberately limits guest numbers, offering an introduction to Rastafari history, herbal healing, Ital food and traditional craft. Coronation Market in downtown Kingston is the main produce market.
How much of Jamaica is actually protected?
19.9 per cent of Jamaica's land was protected in 2024, across 173 protected areas. Marine protection is 0.7 per cent of territorial waters, and that is the weakness. The flagship is exceptional, and not only ecologically.
What wildlife is left in Jamaica?
Jamaica's endemism is the richest in the region. Depending on the taxonomy you follow there are 28 to 30 endemic bird species, and the national bird, the red billed streamertail or doctor bird, is one of them. Jamaica is the only place on earth where the hummingbird genus Trochilus occurs.
Is Jamaica on clean energy?
Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro. Emissions sit at roughly 2.84 tonnes of CO2 per person, low by rich world standards but tied to fossil fuel imports rather than clean supply. The updated climate pledge and a 50 per cent renewable electricity target for 2030 are credible on paper but far from delivered.
How polluted is Jamaica?
Jamaica has the most comprehensive plastics regime of any island we cover. The Natural Resources Conservation Authority (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition) Order 2018 banned, from 1 January 2019, single use plastic bags below a stated thickness, expanded polystyrene foam packaging and single use plastic drinking straws, with the bag thickness threshold raised in 2021 and polystyrene food containers losing their exemption on 1 January 2020. Straws for people with disabilities remain exempt, which is the right carve out.
Does recycling work in Jamaica?
Riverton City landfill in Kingston is reported to take over 60 per cent of nationally collected solid waste, at more than 1,000 tonnes a day, and we could not verify a national recycling rate from any source we trust. What Jamaica has done well is the front end rather than the back end: the plastics regime is the most comprehensive in the region and now reaches microbeads. What happens after collection is much less clear, so take what you can home.
Is the farming in Jamaica organic?
This is the clearest case in the Caribbean of plant based and organic being two different things, which is exactly why we split them. Jamaica has one of the deepest plant based traditions anywhere: Ital is unprocessed, unsalted and plant based as a matter of faith, and it predates the word vegan. What it does not have is certification.
Are there natural materials and craft in Jamaica?
Jamaica does have this, and it is one of the best everyday swaps in the Caribbean: you can sit down and eat a meal out of a calabash. The packie is a hard shelled gourd. Dried, it becomes calabash, and it is turned into plates, bowls, cups, instruments and boxes.
Is there living culture in Jamaica?
The Maroons are the reason Jamaica scores top here. These are communities descended from Africans who freed themselves, held territory against the British and kept their own governance and language. There are three main Windward Maroon communities, Moore Town in the Rio Grande Valley, Charles Town in the Buff Bay Valley and Scotts Hall in the Wag Water Valley, with Accompong the Leeward town in St Elizabeth.
What heritage does Jamaica keep alive?
Jamaica carries a globally influential living culture. Reggae, added to UNESCO's list of intangible heritage, sits alongside ska, mento and dancehall as music still made and danced every day. Rastafari livity, Kumina and Nyabinghi drumming, and Revival Zion keep African rooted spiritual and ancestral traditions alive.
So is Jamaica actually green? The measured answer
What is working: the record is thin on the headline measures, and the sourced numbers below say why.
What is not: sea protected at 0.7% against a 30% mark, renewable electricity at 12.8% against a 100% mark.
World Bank Open Data · Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC / WDPA) · Climate Watch (WRI) · Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026 · World Bank, Population, total, Jamaica · CIA World Factbook, Jamaica (factbook.json mirror) · World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas, Jamaica · World Bank, Renewable electricity output, Jamaica · World Bank, CO2 emissions per capita excluding LULUCF, Jamaica · World Bank, Cause of death by non-communicable diseases, Jamaica
How Jamaica Ranks, region and world.
Where Jamaica sits on the Eco Index, against its Caribbean neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Jamaica compare in Caribbean?
1Dominica72
2Belize70
5Grenada62
Scored Caribbean destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Jamaica sits 34 of 77 at 67/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Jamaica particularly good at?
✓ Plant-based eating, scored 5/5. Ital is the real thing: not a menu category but the food practice of a living faith, unprocessed, unsalted and plant based long before the word vegan reached the Caribbean. The Rastafari Indigenous Village outside Montego Bay is community led, has been running for over 19 years, is reservation only and deliberately limits guest numbers, offering an introduction to Rastafari history, herbal healing, Ital food and traditional craft.
✓ Wildlife, scored 5/5. Jamaica's endemism is the richest in the region. Depending on the taxonomy you follow there are 28 to 30 endemic bird species, and the national bird, the red billed streamertail or doctor bird, is one of them. Jamaica is the only place on earth where the hummingbird genus Trochilus occurs.
✓ Culture, scored 5/5. The Maroons are the reason Jamaica scores top here. These are communities descended from Africans who freed themselves, held territory against the British and kept their own governance and language.
Where does Jamaica score worst?
✕ Organic farming, scored 1/5. This is the clearest case in the Caribbean of plant based and organic being two different things, which is exactly why we split them.
✕ Energy, scored 1/5. Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro. Emissions sit at roughly 2.8 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), low by rich world standards but tied to fossil fuel imports rather than clean supply. The updated climate pledge and a 50 per cent renewable electricity target for 2030 are credible on paper but far from delivered. A dependence on shipped fossil fuel and a slow grid transition keep the island in the fossil reliant band.
✕ Food and farming, scored 2/5. Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 38.5 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Bahamas.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Organic farming, 1/5
This is the clearest case in the Caribbean of plant based and organic being two different things, which is exactly why we split them.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Jamaica's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Energy, 1/5
Jamaica's electricity is still dominated by imported oil and diesel, with renewables supplying only about 10 per cent of generation in 2023, split across wind, solar and a little hydro.
Food and farming, 2/5
Jamaica is by far the most agriculturally real island in this region. Agriculture is 7.97 per cent of GDP, against 1.55 per cent in Barbados and 0.51 per cent in the Bahamas, and 38.5 per cent of the land is agricultural land, against 1.3 per cent in the Bahamas.
The Jamaica Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Jamaica, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Jamaica
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
56.5
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
19.9
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
0.7
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
12.8
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
2.8 t (2024)
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
313
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
46.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
56.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
58.1 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
75.1 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
68.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
44.1 / 100 · 73 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 73 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
44.3 / 100 · 83 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 83 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
44.9 / 100 · 83 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 83 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
33.9 / 100 · 100 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 100 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
63.4 / 100 · 74 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 74 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
10.1 / 100 · 78 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 78 of 111 countries assessed.
How Jamaica Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 110 sources across 50 institutions
World Bank18 FIGURES
- Forest area (% of land area), forest cover 56.2%, 2023
- Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of land) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 check
- Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2020 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Adult literacy rate SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, 1999 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Safely managed sanitation (% of population) SH.STA.SMSS.ZS, 2024 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2020 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
- What a Waste 2.0 country-level dataset check
Jamaica Information Service11 FIGURES
- Jamaica on track to meeting renewable energy target (2023) check
- Get the Facts: The Jamaican Iguana, The Jamaican iguana is endemic, Critically Endangered, the largest native land animal, and was considered exti check
- Get the Facts: The Jamaican Iguana corroboration check
- Get the Facts: The Jamaican Iguana corroboration check
- Minister Grange Leads Successful Inscription of Reggae on Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List, Reggae, added to UNESCO's list of intangible heritage, sits alongside ska, mento and dancehall as music still check
- Minister Grange Leads Successful Inscription of Reggae on Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List corroboration check
- The History of Jamaica, Island-wide strikes and unrest lead to the first trade unions and modern political parties. check
- The History of Jamaica corroboration check
- The History of Jamaica corroboration check
- The History of Jamaica corroboration check
- The History of Jamaica corroboration check
GBIF species profile8 FIGURES
- Phyllonycteris aphylla, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 17173), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (mammal). check
- Phyllonycteris aphylla, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 17173) corroboration check
- Pterodroma caribbaea, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 22698097), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (bird). check
- Eretmochelys imbricata, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 8005), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (turtle). check
- Eretmochelys imbricata, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 8005) corroboration check
- Acropora palmata, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 133006), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (coral). check
- Acropora palmata, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 133006) corroboration check
- Podocarpus urbanii, IUCN Red List category CRITICALLY_ENDANGERED (IUCN taxon id 34106), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Jamaica in GBIF occurrence data (plant). check
Other published sources6 FIGURES
- Published range for the three burials is cal. AD 1221 to 1641; the cocoa starch grain is a tentative identification; the best-dated-site superlative traces to a 1972 report and could not be confirmed from an openable current source check
- Speciation and hybridization in Jamaican-endemic Streamertail Hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus), LSU doctoral dissertation, Jamaica is the only place on earth where the hummingbird genus Trochilus occurs. check
- Speciation and hybridization in Jamaican-endemic Streamertail Hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus), LSU doctoral dissertation corroboration check
- Speciation and hybridization in Jamaican-endemic Streamertail Hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus), LSU doctoral dissertation corroboration check
- Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development (Jamaica), 4th Phase of Single-Use Plastic Ban to Take Effect July 1, From 1 July 2024 single use plastic food containers made of polyethylene, polypropylene or PLA are banned, and check
- Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development (Jamaica), 4th Phase of Single-Use Plastic Ban to Take Effect July 1 corroboration check
IUCN World Heritage Outlook4 FIGURES
- Blue and John Crow Mountains site assessment, The Blue and John Crow Mountains were inscribed by UNESCO in July 2015 as a mixed natural and cultural site, 2 check
- Blue and John Crow Mountains site assessment corroboration check
- Blue and John Crow Mountains site assessment corroboration check
- Blue and John Crow Mountains site assessment corroboration check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics public data API4 FIGURES
- indicator XGDP.FSGOV (government expenditure on education as % of GDP), Jamaica 2024, Public spending on education runs at 5.5% of GDP and 17.9% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
- indicator XGDP.FSGOV (government expenditure on education as % of GDP), Jamaica 2024 corroboration check
- indicator XGDP.FSGOV (government expenditure on education as % of GDP), Jamaica 2024 corroboration check
- indicator XGDP.FSGOV (government expenditure on education as % of GDP), Jamaica 2024 corroboration check
Wild Life Protection Act (Jamaica)4 FIGURES
- text hosted by the National Environment and Planning Agency, Sea turtles are fully protected under the Wild Life Protection Act and Endangered Species Act with NGO-run nes check
- text hosted by the National Environment and Planning Agency corroboration check
- text hosted by the National Environment and Planning Agency corroboration check
- text hosted by the National Environment and Planning Agency corroboration check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_TERR, Jamaica, 2025 (20.1%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, marine Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_MRN_MPA, Jamaica, 2025 (31.6%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_FRHWTR, Jamaica, 2025 (61.7%), country-reported check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, Jamaica, 2025 (63.4%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, Jamaica, 2025 (18.8%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, Jamaica, 2025 (22.9%), country-reported check
Jamaica Observer3 FIGURES
UNESCO3 FIGURES
Convention on Biological Diversity2 FIGURES
FAOSTAT2 FIGURES
- Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL), Americas bulk file, release 23 December 2025, By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Jamaica are sugarcane, yams, coconuts, oranges and bananas (FAO, FAOSTA check
- Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL), Americas bulk file, release 23 December 2025 corroboration check
Jamaica Gleaner2 FIGURES
Lehnert et al.2 FIGURES
- Jamaica's critically endangered butterfly, the Homerus swallowtail check
- 'Jamaica's Critically Endangered Butterfly: A Review of the Biology and Conservation Status of the Homerus Swallowtail', Insects 8(3):68, 2017, The Homerus swallowtail, found only here, is the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere. check
BeenyBud1 FIGURE
- Preserving Heritage check
Climate Watch (WRI)1 FIGURE
- Net-Zero Tracker check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Jamaica 1962 (rev. 2023) check
Donovan Stanberry1 FIGURE
- Deciphering the food import bill, Jamaica Gleaner check
Endangered1 FIGURE
- the category still carried on the IUCN Red List (Gimenez Dixon assessment, taxon 15992) in the Red List extract of August 2026 check
FiBL/IFOAM1 FIGURE
- organic farmland 0.002% (10 ha), 2020
GBIF occurrence search1 FIGURE
- Jamaica, IUCN Red List category Critically Endangered corroboration check
Government of Jamaica1 FIGURE
- National Food and Nutrition Security Policy 2013 check
GPSmyCity1 FIGURE
- market days
Half Moon Sea Turtle Program and Visit Jamaica1 FIGURE
- natural phenomena
IEA1 FIGURE
- Electricity generation sources Jamaica 2023 check
IEA, World Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Jamaica, 2023 (9.4%), modelled estimate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Jamaica elections and chambers check
IQAir World Air Quality Report1 FIGURE
- PM2.5 annual mean 7.1 ug/m3, 2023
IUCN Red List1 FIGURE
- BioDB, threatened species ~313 (all taxa), 2022
Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust1 FIGURE
- Blue and John Crow Mountains cultural heritage check
Jamaica Experiences1 FIGURE
- release your vitality with Jamaican Ital food check
Jamaica Trade Portal1 FIGURE
- plastic packaging materials prohibition order check
Jamaica876.com1 FIGURE
- local staples
National Environment and Planning Agency1 FIGURE
- Jamaica, national environmental authority check
Natural History Museum of Jamaica (Institute of Jamaica)1 FIGURE
- Did You Know? corroboration check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- CO2 country profile: Jamaica check
PCJ Cook Shop1 FIGURE
- Turning Packie into Calabash check
Planning Institute of Jamaica1 FIGURE
- Voluntary National Review 2022, Goal 6 check
Protected Planet1 FIGURE
- Jamaica check
Statistical Institute of Jamaica1 FIGURE
- national statistical authority check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UNEP-WCMC World Heritage Datasheet1 FIGURE
- Blue and John Crow Mountains corroboration check
WHO/UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- World Bank, drinking water 87.6% (at least basic), 2024
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, population using safely managed sanitation (%) SH_SAN_SAFE, Jamaica, 2024 (73.6%), modelled estimate check
World Bank EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS1 FIGURE
- renewable electricity 12.8%, 2021
World Bank Open Data1 FIGURE
- agriculture, protected areas and trade indicators check
World Intellectual Property Organization1 FIGURE
- In Search of a Perfect Cup check