A decade ago, someone trying to understand poverty dynamics in the Caribbean would have hit a wall. They would have encountered statistical office websites with limited information on the data collected, survey data locked in filing cabinets, and no clear channels to request access even when data existed.
Yet this is beginning to change. Statistical offices are implementing more surveys, publishing more of their work online, and increasingly making microdata accessible in specialized archives. Collecting, using, analyzing, and sharing data in this way provides a huge benefit to policymakers. It can help policymakers track whether social protection programs are reaching the poorest people, whether a spike in food prices is pushing vulnerable households into poverty, or whether people have access to basic services when natural disasters strike.
Despite the improvements witnessed in the Caribbean’s data landscape over the last decade, progress has been uneven. This means that closing the remaining data gaps will require deliberate choices by governments, regional institutions, and development partners.
Caribbean statistical systems have improved, but they remain behind other upper middle-income countries
The World Bank tracks how well national statistical systems (NSSs) are performing through a special index called the Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI). It scores NSSs from 0 to 100 against five pillars:
1) Whether data produced by NSSs are used for development purposes by different stakeholders. This first pillar is critical for measuring impact: data cannot be impactful if it is not used (Data Use);
2) How easily data can be accessed (Data Services);
3) Whether countries produce the data needed to track progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Data Products);
4) Whether key primary data sources, such as censuses and surveys, are collected regularly (Data Sources); and
5) Whether NSSs are supported by strong laws, institutions, and statistical standards (Data Infrastructure).
The average SPI score for the Caribbean has increased significantly over the last decade. The average SPI score for the eight upper middle-income and high-income Caribbean countries included in the SPI database* rose from 42.8 in 2016 to 60.1 in 2024.
Yet despite this progress, Caribbean countries continue to underperform relative to their income peers. The average SPI score for upper middle-income countries (UMICs) was 68.9 in 2024. In part, this may be because many Caribbean countries are Small Island Developing States (SIDS): small, open economies facing substantial vulnerabilities and high per-capita costs for producing statistics.
Additionally, Haiti, the only lower middle-income country (LMIC) in the Caribbean, saw even more limited progress, with its score increasing from 36.2 in 2016 to 38.7 in 2024. This is well below the LMIC average of 63, reflecting the recurrent shocks and persistent security challenges that Haiti faces. To facilitate comparisons among countries with similar income levels, the analysis that follows excludes Haiti.
