WILLEMSTAD - The number of inhabitants in Curaçao fell last year compared to 2022, according to the latest figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).  

The island had 148,925 inhabitants on January 1 of this year. Compared to January 2022, this is a decrease of 1.4 percent. It is the first time since 2010 that the number of inhabitants has fallen below 150,000.  

The population composition of Curaçao now consists of 45.4 percent men and 54.6 percent women. The sex ratio shows that the island has 83.2 males per 100 females as of January 1, 2023.  

The Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that these are provisional figures and that only people who are officially registered in the population register have been included. This does not take into account undocumented migrants living on the island.  

In addition, CBS indicates that it will collect as much data as possible from all residents living on the island during the upcoming census in September, and the statistics office hopes to provide a more realistic picture of the population living on the island.