While the Bahamas may be the richest nation in the Caribbean community, based on income, do we have the best standard of living or one that's better than most? To determine that we will need to examine things like the misery level (crime, pollution, political unrest), along with the availability of living essentials, food, potable water, electricity, schools and education the level of taxation, the freedom of movement, life expectancy levels, infant mortality rates and more.

$21,000 in the Bahamas means you can buy a nice home in Pine wood gardens or some similar community r some govt low income home, YIPPE I cant wait , I RICHHHHHHHHH

cause rent is 1,000 per mont , dam $12,000 gone
bec , ma second land lord is , dam $450 per month , dats $5,400 gone
gas , dat $260 per month so $3,120 gone and cant pay the car note
ma Cellie , ring ring . dem cards get in me for one easy 30 a week , dat $1,560 gone
oh lord I aint even eat yet or pay for ma ride and $22,080 done gone .......jeez I got to let ma sweet hearth dem go , cut back time ........and I hungry , a ya know she need dem nails and weave , dey aint put dat in the World Report Hey , who is compile dat anyway, POTCAKE HEY.......dont sound to dam rich to me ........ boy I know if we rich den lord help me , I aint want to be poor

What about Cayman Island and Turks and Caicos

Now couple it to the Cost of Living Index and you will have an accurate indicator of the true wealth of nations. Bahamas may be number one in gross national income per capita, but they are also number one in Cost of Living Index, so we are not the real number one in terms of disposable income after meeting the cost of living.

But there is a more insidious side that is hidden in these numbers. They are calculated by taking the GDP or Gross Domestic Product (the entire economy) and dividing by the population. Here's the rub. There are 3 different ways of calculating GDP - by income, by expenditure and by production. So let's say Baha Mar add $2 billion through investment (it's not added all in one year, but for the sake of argument, suppose that it is). That money is direct foreign investment, but it is investment in tourism infrastructure owned by foreign corporations, and those foreign corporations repatriate their profits. So technically the $2 billion is added to the economy and it inflates the GDP and causes a big number when calculating gross income per capita. If the Value-Added approach is taken, the Value Added to the GDP is but a fraction of that $2 billion, and yet the $2 billion is used in 2 out of 3 calculations for the GDP.

The same goes for second home sales in Lifeless (er Lyford) Cay, Ocean Club or Old Fort Bay. Some of the transactional elements get added to the GDP calculation, but it in no way benefits the actual person Over the Hill.

So while the numbers may be used to suggest that the average person is richer than his neighbours in the Caribbean, it is not the case in reality.

Why don't we start ranking by income pro-rated against the amount of assets held or money in a savings account.

After all it's not what you get but what you do with it that counts right? Or is the Bahamas an alternate universe?

We have a higher per cap income b/c we have less people to split the pie up for ,but we are doing our dammest to change that and be like Haiti and Jamaica

True dat. I am coming across more and more young ladies around 25 years of age who already have 3-4 children.
A handful of multi millionaires skew the results to the high end.

@bloody1967 that was hilarious. Dont forget the nerve bill and numbers bill lol

Too bad many thousand of our Comrade Bahamalander's paychecks don't reflect such a rosy financial picture. How can this be so while leaving bread crumbs behind for so many? The banks who ain't getting their mortgage and car payments on time would question such prosperity.

we makin the salary,but if you want to live,a modest home,light ,water,phone,cable,groceries,etc,the list goes on for the basic necessities of everyday life in the Bahamas,the cost of living is extremely high!disposeable income is almost non existant,i wouldnt talk about savings,it is almost impossible to save,either you cut off one of your utilities or do without something in order to save a buck,it is just to expensive!

That is the cost of a grossly overstaffed highly unionized civil service .We make more babies than jobs and have been absorbing it on the public purse.