Capacity to deliver
The 57% Government
Behind every guilder is a person meant to spend it well — and right now, 1,006 budgeted government posts sit empty. Ministry by ministry, here is how thinly staffed the state that serves you really is.
- Justice54% · 590 of 1,095 filled · 505 empty
- General Affairs57% · 254 of 445 filled · 191 empty
- Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment & Infrastructure63% · 92 of 146 filled · 54 empty
- Finance64% · 138 of 214 filled · 76 empty
- Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecom72% · 168 of 232 filled · 64 empty
- Public Health, Social Development & Labor74% · 148 of 198 filled · 50 empty
- Education, Culture, Youth & Sport81% · 281 of 347 filled · 66 empty
The catch
Empty desks, a growing wage bill.
Salaries are already the single biggest cost in the budget — Cg 279M in 2026, set to climb to Cg 304M by 2029. Yet more than a thousand budgeted posts stay unfilled: the wage bill grows while the desks that deliver services to citizens stay empty. It is the capacity crisis behind almost every ministry’s own list of risks.
Source · Explanatory Notes to the 2026 National Budget of Sint Maarten — per-ministry formation (establishment) and filled-position tables. Occupancy is filled ÷ budgeted posts; personnel cost is economic category 41.