Kralendijk/Oranjestad/The Bottom- Saba has the lowest employment rate of the three special municipalities of Caribbean Netherlands. This becomes clear from figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) of Caribbean Netherlands.

In 2016, on average 69 percent of the Caribbean Netherlands’ labor force from the population aged 15 to 74 years were in some form of paid employment. On Bonaire and St Eustatius, the employment rates stood at 70 and 66 percent respectively. On Saba however, this was only 62 percent.

This, according to CBS, makes Saba one of the Dutch municipalities with the lowest employment rate, according to newly released figures from the 2016 Labor Force Survey Caribbean Netherlands.

Bonaire had 15.3 thousand inhabitants between the ages of 15 and 74 in 2016. On St Eustatius and Saba, the population between these age brackets was 2.4 thousand and nearly 1.6 thousand respectively. Saba houses an American medical university, and because of this a relatively large part of its population are (foreign) students. To a large extent, according to CBC, this explains the lower labor participation rate.

Slightly more men than women have paid jobs in the Caribbean Netherlands. On Bonaire, 72 percent of the men and 68 percent of the women aged 15 to 74 are in employment. On St Eustatius, these rates amount to 67 and 65 percent respectively.

On Saba, 64 percent of the men and 59 percent of the women between 15 aand 74 are in employment. Both men and women living in the Caribbean Netherlands primarily work full-time. On Bonaire and St Eustatius, there are however slightly fewer women than men in full-time employment, while there is hardly any difference on Saba.