Commercial buildings increased significantly over the past decade in Guyana

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

The number of buildings within the commercial sector has grown tremendously over a 10-year period. According to the Guyana Population and Housing Census 2012 Preliminary Report, the number of commercial buildings has increased by 26.4 per cent, moving 14,560 in 2002 to 18,537 in 2012.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, the distribution patterns remain the same when compared to 2002, pointing out that the number of business places had outstripped the level of growth of the building stocks when compared regionally.

Using Region Seven as an example, the Bureau of Statistics pointed out that the number of businesses nearly doubled with a recorded increase of 88.1 per cent. The increase in commercial buildings within the district was linked to the sharp rise in mining activities.

“The increase is an important indicator of economic growth in those regions, but would obviously require a more detailed survey of a special type to ascertain the actual types of business activities that are being undertaken there,” the Bureau of Statistics stated in the preliminary report.

Significant increase

In Region One, there were 288 commercial buildings in 2002; but by 2012, the number increased to 433 while in Region Two, the number of businesses had dropped from 1203 in 2002 to 1077 in 2012. However, Region Three experienced significant growth jumping from 1885 in 2002 to 2672. Similarly, the number of business places increased from 6424 to 8745 in 2012 in Region Four, while there was a slight increase in Region Five, moving from 949 in 2002 to 1138 in 2012.

Regions Six, Nine and 10 experienced marginal increases while in Region Eight, there was a reduction in commercial buildings, moving from 117 in 2002 to 80 in 2012. However, in Region Seven, the commercial sector doubled with 662 businesses being recorded during the 2012 Census.

Overall, the country’s building stocks have increased by 16.9 per cent, moving from 187,696 in 2002 to 219,509 in 2012. Regions Three and Four topped the chart, recording the highest increase in building stocks. According to the report, 13,120 new buildings were erected in Region Four since the 2002 Housing Census, increasing from 73,390 to 86,510 buildings. Region Three came in second with an increase of 8972 buildings. At the time of the 2002 Census, the coastal region building stock stood at 26,516, but jumped to 35,488 buildings by 2012.

The 2012 Census marked the 17th National Census of Guyana and Guyana’s seventh post-War National Census of Population and Housing.