Antigua & Barbuda: Demographics & Population

Antigua and Barbuda had an estimated population of roughly 98,000 in the early 2020s, though the 2011 national census recorded a total of 81,800 residents. Population is concentrated overwhelmingly on Antigua, home to the capital, St. John's, and the bulk of economic activity, while Barbuda's much smaller population has at times fluctuated sharply due to hurricane damage and temporary evacuations, most notably after Hurricane Irma struck the island in 2017.

According to the 2011 census, the population is predominantly of African descent, at about 87 percent, reflecting the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade that brought enslaved Africans to the islands' sugar plantations from the seventeenth century onward. The remainder includes people of mixed heritage, along with smaller communities of Hispanic, White, Indian, and Syrian-Lebanese descent, the last a legacy of Middle Eastern merchant immigration in the twentieth century. In recent decades, migration from other Caribbean nations has added further diversity to the workforce, particularly in tourism and construction.

English is the official language, though most residents speak Antiguan Creole, an English-based creole, in everyday life. Christianity is the predominant religion, with Anglicanism historically the largest denomination as a result of British colonial rule, alongside significant Methodist, Moravian, Roman Catholic, and evangelical communities. The population is largely urban, clustered around St. John's and the surrounding parishes, while Barbuda remains sparsely settled and more rural in character.