KINGSTON, Jamaica—The private security guard industry continues to be a key component of Jamaica’s security architecture with more than 300 companies and over 30,000 individuals on record as of 2025.

Regulatory activity within the private security industry expanded during the year, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in its annual publication, the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica.

The survey found that a total of 331 security organisations were registered or had their registration renewed, up from 311 in 2024. Of the total, 30 organisations were newly-registered, representing a 20.0 per cent increase over the previous year.

The total number of registered security guards, private investigators, and security trainers also increased, according to the survey.
Total registration was 30,013 individuals, compared with 28,124 in the preceding reporting period.

PIOJ said male registrants increased to 18,286 from 17,430, while female registrants rose to 11,727 from 10,694.

The planning institute noted that although unarmed registrants continued to account for the majority of individuals registered, there were changes recorded for armed and unarmed registrants. The number of unarmed registrants increased by 7.2 per cent to 25,802 and armed registrants increased by 3.8 per cent to 4,211.