Puerto Rico Statistics Institute creates and publishes a new Educational Program in Podcast format

This program is the official Podcast of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (Institute). This medium is a quick and convenient way to obtain information through a digital audio format. The audios can be listened to at any time, from anywhere, through various platforms on the Internet. Each episode of this podcast helps people have greater and better access to comprehensive, reliable statistics that are quickly and universally accessible.

The Podcast is accessible through the following link: https://anchor.fm/instituto-de-estadsticas-de-puerto-rico

Episode 1 (S1) is aimed at the topic of education and is entitled: “Statistical Compendium of Higher Education in Puerto Rico: Year 2020-2021”.

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PRESS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Data from the World Values Survey for Puerto Rico revealed

54% of people do not leave their house at night as a security measure

In Puerto Rico, family is the most important aspect (94%), followed by work (70%), free time (66%) and religion (65%). These are some of the data reflected in the recent World Values Survey for Puerto Rico carried out by a team of professors and students from the University of the Sacred Heart, led by Dr. Javier Hernández, director of the Department of Business Administration of Sagrado, and supported by the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico. The study was revealed at the Forum and presentation on the World Values Survey for Puerto Rico 2018, at the Sacred Heart University, where a panel of renowned experts in different areas analyzed and commented on the results.

The World Values Survey is an instrument that allows the development of statistics on the ethical, social, economic and political values of Puerto Ricans, as well as the assessment of their daily lives, civic and governmental institutions, and their connection with the world of work, their families and their communities. This survey provides an opportunity to address the nature of social capital in Puerto Rico vis-a-vis the rest of the world and, therefore, to know what the people are prepared to do and what they need to plan their development as a social, economic and cultural collective.

One of the relevant data from this study points out that the majority of people in Puerto Rico (91%) consider themselves quite happy or very happy. However, despite the fact that 85% understand that their neighborhood is very safe or quite safe, 71% avoid carrying a lot of cash and 54% do not leave their house at night, as a security measure. On the other hand, only a minority thinks that most people can be trusted (18%).

The study also reveals that a majority has no interest in politics (52%) and would not vote for any political party and only for independent candidates (54%). In 2001, the percentage that showed no interest in politics represented 28%.

For the lead author of the study, Dr. Javier Hernández, “The World Values Survey is a valuable tool that will allow us to compare results with over 60 countries. It is part of the efforts to make Puerto Rico part of the main international indicators and to support institutional decision-making. The survey addresses issues of great relevance to the government, academia, the third sector and civil society, so we invite all sectors to analyze their results.”

“The return of Puerto Rico to the World Values Survey represents an important effort, since it allows us to continue with the recommendation of the Institute of Statistics to make Puerto Rico part of the main indicators at the global level. In the same way, this project represents a vital source of information to contribute to the culture of evidence-based decision-making. This is valuable information about our values, beliefs and political culture, among other information, necessary to guide public policy decisions. The survey results have a multisectoral scope, which is key for different levels of government, the non-governmental sector and the academy,” said Dr. Orville M. Disdier, acting executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

The Sacred Heart University, established in 1880 by the religious order of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a Catholic, private, non-profit institution that promotes a unique and innovative educational project in an environment characterized by excellent community life. The University offers associate degrees, baccalaureates, combined degrees, master's degrees, post-baccalaureate certificates and collaborative agreements with other universities in and outside of Puerto Rico. The academic offer focuses on the areas of Business Administration, Natural Sciences, Communication, Nursing and Humanities-Social Sciences.

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 or to access the 2018 World Values Survey for Puerto Rico you can visit the website: https://estadisticas.pr.gov/ or through the social networks of Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico).

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Press Contacts:

Lourdes Burgos/787-562-2932/ lburgos@upfrontpr.net

Idia Martinez/787-603-3200/ imartinez@upfrontpr.net

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551 homicides and 210 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2020

551 homicides and 210 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2020

As presented in the most recent Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) established at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for the year 2020. The report reports that in 2020, there were 729 incidents of violent deaths, with a total of 790 fatalities. Of the total number of violent deaths, 551 were homicides and 210 were suicides. According to the PRVDRS, violent deaths occur primarily through homicide or suicide.

In 2020, 69.8% of victims of violent deaths were reported in single or multiple homicide incidents and 26.6% were suicide incidents. Four homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in eight fatalities. In addition, four violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.5%) and 19 violent deaths with undetermined intent (2.4%) were documented during this period.

In 2020, approximately nine out of 10 victims of violent deaths (89.0%) were men. The crude homicide rate was 24.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, 45.2 in men and 4.9 in women. The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. Approximately, nine out of 10 homicides (88.9%) involved a firearm. 89.6% of these deaths occurred in men and 83.7% in women. The proportion of homicides of women with firearms in 2020 is the highest since 2000. Homicide rates by sex in age groups between 15 and 39 years reflect that in these age groups, 72.7% of all homicides occur in men and 61.2% in women. The most common criminal circumstances of homicides in Puerto Rico are related to illegal drug trafficking and organized crime.

In 2020, 68 fatal victims of family violence were reported. Most of these cases were related to violence in an intimate partner or former partner environment (17 cases, 25.0%) and 31 additional victims related to intimate partners or third parties involved in an intimate partner conflict (45.6%). In turn, violence between family members (20 cases, 29.4%), occurred mainly during an argument (50.0%). The majority of victims of intimate partner violence were women (76.5%) who were fatally assaulted by their former partner or former male spouse (61.5%) or current partner or spouse (38.5%). In addition, three of the women victims of intimate partner violence were homicide-suicide incidents (23.1%).

As for suicides in Puerto Rico, the report highlights that the frequency is lower than that of homicides. However, as in homicides, suicides are more frequent in men (84.8%). In 2020, the crude suicide rate was 6.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, 11.4 in men (one of 124 men) and 1.9 in women (one of 765 women). The risk of suicide in men was six times greater than the risk of suicide in women. Most suicides occurred by hanging, strangulation, or suffocation (64.3%), followed by firearms (16.7%).

Mariluz Bezares, manager of statistical projects at the Institute of Statistics and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS, explained that the collection of this type of data could involve fieldwork that takes more than two years from the time the incident occurs until the collection and review of the data is completed. “This system is a reliable, complete and unique reference source that helps describe the context of violent deaths in the victim-aggressor relationship and the magnitude, trend and characteristics of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Diego Zavala, epidemiologist and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS.

For the executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, these statistics are one of the main tools to combat the phenomenon of violence in Puerto Rico. “These data, among others, serve as a basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, demographic and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is to continue strengthening this statistical and epidemiological system to continue improving the quality of this type of data,” said Dr. Disdier.

The PRVDRS is an epidemiological surveillance system affiliated with the Institute of Statistics and designed to obtain a complete and standardized census of violent deaths in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS began its participation in the National Violent Death Notification System (National Violent Death Reporting System, NVDRS) in September 2016 through a collaborative agreement granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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. The Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico during 2020, like previous reports, is available at: Prvdrs. To learn more about the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, you can access the website at www.estadisticas.pr.gov and on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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