Graduates in creative disciplines increase by 26%

Announcements
IEPR
29 December 2025

San Juan, Puerto Rico. May 6, 2025. The number of graduates in creative disciplines in Puerto Rico increased by 26.4% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Puerto Rico Creative Industries Report 2021-2022 published by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. The report notes that 1,930 people graduated in 2022 from programs related to art, design, technology and media, with baccalaureate being the most common degree (56.2%), and graphic design the discipline with the most graduates (20.6%). This compared to 1,527 who graduated in 2021.

This educational growth, together with a 5% increase in the number of creative establishments that reached 2,227 in 2022, outlines a dynamic landscape for this key sector in Puerto Rico's economic diversification and innovation. However, the report also documents an 11.3% drop in employment in these industries, with 14,550 people employed in 2022 compared to 16,415 in the previous year. Other findings from the report include:

Creative Establishments

  • 68.5% of the establishments are small businesses with between 1 and 4 employees.
  • Distribution by sector: Art (36.3%), Media (30.6%) and Creative Services (26.4%).

Opportunities

  • The increase in graduates and new businesses reflects a growing academic offering and greater interest in creative careers.
  • Sectors such as technology and advertising offer competitive salaries to attract and retain talent.

Identified Challenges

  • 86% of establishments are micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees.
  • Gender gaps persist, especially in high-paying sectors, where female representation is low.
  • There is a geographical concentration of companies in municipalities with greater purchasing power, with peripheral areas lagging behind.
  • Trade deficit: the value of imports triples that of exports, although there are signs of improvement.

Despite the challenges, the report highlights significant opportunities, such as a robust academic offering and competitive salaries in technological and advertising areas.

“Creative industries integrate culture, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, making them a strategic economic sector for Puerto Rico,” said Francisco Pesante, Manager of Statistical Projects and author of the report. “This report puts into perspective the need to strengthen public policies, invest in specialized training and support small businesses in the creative sector, to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and promote Puerto Rico's competitiveness,” said Dr. Pesante.

The full report is available at: Creative-Industries-In-Puerto Rico-2021-2022

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information you can write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

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Statistics Institute announces enrollment period for the second semester of its training courses in data production and analysis

Statistics Institute announces enrollment period for the second semester of its training courses in data production and analysis

Statistics Institute Creates Resource Section on COVID-19

PRESS RELEASE

Statistics Institute creates resource section on COVID-19

The section includes sources from Puerto Rico and other jurisdictions around the world

San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 11, 2020 — The website of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) has a new section where you can access data and information related to the impact of COVID-19 in Puerto Rico and other jurisdictions around the world. As reported by the executive director, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, the objective is to provide access to the information that various organizations have been producing on this subject from a single electronic portal.

At the moment, the section has information on topics such as tests, positive and negative cases, mortality, demographic and socioeconomic data, surveillance and response, among others. It is contained in links that direct the user to information or data portals of institutions such as the Puerto Rico Department of Health, Red Cross, Johns Hopkins University, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Department of State, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Center for Disease Control and Prevention and several private entities.

Disdier clarified that the content of the section, which can be found on the page www.estadisticas.pr.gov, in the COVID-19 section and under the name COVID-19 Resources, is solely for reference and research on this topic and has not necessarily been reviewed or evaluated by the Institute, so they cannot guarantee that all information is complete or reliable. The section will be reviewed periodically to add new sources.

About the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity tasked with coordinating the government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and accessible quickly and universally. In addition, as the leading entity of the SDC in Puerto Rico, the Institute manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau about Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates, the Puerto Rico Community Survey (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's 10-year population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/.

For more information you can visit the website: https://estadisticas.pr.gov/. In addition, you can follow the Institute on social networks, through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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Press Contact:

Idia Martínez

787-603-3200

imartinez@upfrontpr.net

Generosity Report 2015-2023

Donations to non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico increased 136.5% in eight years

Report from the Institute of Statistics and UPR reveals that donations deducted from payroll exceeded $329 million in 2023

The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics and the Graduate School of Public Administration (EGAP) of the University of Puerto Rico published the new Generosity Report 2015-2023, an analysis that reveals sustained growth in monetary donations reported by taxpayers in Puerto Rico over the past eight years.

The report, based on official data from the Department of Treasury on deductions claimed for donations to non-profit organizations, shows that total monetary donations increased from $139.5 million in 2015 to $329.8 million in 2023, representing a cumulative increase of 136.5%.

The analysis also reveals that, during the period studied, taxpayers in Puerto Rico claimed an average of $231.9 million annually in deductions for donations. The largest annual increase occurred between 2020 and 2021, when deductions grew 19.6%, a behavior that coincides with the period after the pandemic and multiple emergencies that impacted Puerto Rico.

“The report confirms that in Puerto Rico there is a culture of support and solidarity that deserves to be documented and studied in greater depth. This data allow us to begin to measure Puerto Rico's philanthropic behavior, using official and comparable information,” said Dr. Luz Mairym López-Rodríguez, associate professor at EGAP and project manager.

The doctor added that “the preparation of this report represents an opportunity for Puerto Rico to join the discussion on generosity, particularly in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, it will make it possible to promote academic research based on concrete data.” He also expressed his gratitude to Omar Álvarez González, the Institute's statistical project assistant, for his collaboration in the development of the report.

“In many jurisdictions around the world, there are efforts to measure and document the ecosystem of generosity. In Puerto Rico, there is still little statistical information on this topic, so this report represents an important step in generating comparable data and bringing a new dimension to the economic and social analysis of Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Orville M. Disdier Flores, executive director of the Institute of Statistics.

Disdier also mentioned that “non-profit organizations and philanthropy are an important part of the social and economic fabric of Puerto Rico, and having official statistics on generosity allows us to better understand how people support community, educational, cultural and health causes, among others. That is why we welcomed the collaboration proposed by Dr. Luz Mairym López-Rodríguez to develop this analysis.”

The report also includes interactive graphics and maps that allow us to visualize trends and compare the behavior of deductions for donations over time. Although the total amount of donations increased, the study points out that the number of taxpayers who claimed deductions for donations showed a reduction during the period analyzed, suggesting that the average contributions claimed are higher than a decade ago.

The report is available at: Generosity Report 2015-2023.