Explore & Community
PEI by the Numbers: The Statistics That Surprise Newcomers
182,000 people, 1,100 kilometres of coastline, and 25 percent of Canada's potato crop, the key numbers that explain how PEI actually functions day to day.
1. The Headline Numbers
| Metric | Figure | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 182,001 (as of January 2026) | Canada's second-fastest-growing province by percentage, at 0.7% annual growth, behind only Alberta |
| Population density | 27.27 people per square kilometre | The highest density of any Canadian province, despite PEI being the smallest by land area |
| Coastline | Over 1,100 km | The province's own line: you are never more than 15 minutes from a beach |
| Lighthouses and lighted buoys | About 60 | Believed to be the highest lighthouse density of any region in North America |
| Highest point | 142 metres | Located along the south shore |
| Share of Canada's potato production | 25% | The highest of any province in the country |
2. What the Density Number Actually Feels Like
Being Canada's most densely populated province sounds like it should mean traffic and crowding. In practice, with only 182,000 people spread across 5,660 square kilometres of farmland, red soil, and coastline, it means short drives between towns and no real rush hour outside a few blocks of downtown Charlottetown at 5 p.m.
3. Growth Is Recent and Fast
PEI's population growth rate now trails only Alberta among Canadian provinces, a sharp reversal from decades of the Island being known mainly for outmigration. Immigration, interprovincial migration, and the PEI Provincial Nominee Program have driven most of that increase in the past several years.
4. Why the Potato Number Matters Economically
Agriculture built PEI's modern economy on the back of its red, iron-rich soil, and potatoes remain the single largest crop by volume and export value. A quarter of everything grown in Canada under the word "potato" comes from this one small province.