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Statistics Institute reveals the Results Report of its 2018 Statistics Publication Calendar

San Juan, PR, February 2, 2018 — The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) today released the Results Report of its 2018 Statistics Publication Calendar (CAPe), which includes the schedule for the publication of statistics on Puerto Rico for this calendar year and which, in turn, provides an evaluation of the commitment of government entities to users regarding the publication dates of their statistics for the calendar year 2017.

As detailed in the CAPe Results Report, for calendar year 2018, 22 state and federal agencies have been included in this commitment to publish their 45 statistical reports. Regarding the specific performance of compliance with the CAPe, the report highlights in its introduction that: “For 2017, the first 3 local agencies that achieved greater consistency in complying with their publication schedule on time were the Department of Labor and Human Resources (with the Employment and Unemployment report, as well as Non-Agricultural Wage Employment), the Department of Health (with its Weekly Report on Arboviral Diseases) and the Puerto Rico Police (with its Type I Crimes report)”.

On the other hand, the agencies with the lowest on-time compliance were the Puerto Rico Police (with their Fatal Accident Report), the Trade and Export Company (Retail Sales), the Port Authority (Air and Sea Cargo and Passengers) and the Tourism Company (Monthly Statistics Report).

The 2018 CAPe Results Report is available at the following link: https://estadisticas.pr/calendario. In addition, it has been distributed through the Institute's Statistical Report Subscription System, which allows users to receive directly to their email and free of charge, some of the statistical reports published by state and federal agencies. During the calendar year 2017, 34 different statistical reports published by 21 agencies of the Government of Puerto Rico and the Federal Government of the United States were released through the Subscription System. While the total number of subscriptions from its inception in 2008 to December 2017 amounts to a total of 1,609.189 million.

”Throughout these 10 years of existence of the Statistics Publication Calendar, we have been able to verify that not only during 2017, but historically, the statistical publications of the Tourism Company, the Trade and Export Company, the Industrial Development Company and other entities attached to the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), are among the monthly publications with the longest delays in publication or data lag”, said Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, executive director of the Institute.

One of the main reasons that led to the creation of the Institute was the excessive delay in producing certain statistics. That is why the Act established strict schedules for the publication of statistics with which the Institute has fully and consistently complied during its 10 years of existence.

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. The IEPR has nearly 300 statistical products in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.pr. In addition, it is a guardian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through www.data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: www.indicadores.pr.

In addition, as the leading entity of Puerto Rico's SDC, the IEPR manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau on Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed at: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/.

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

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes/787-688-0401

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San Juan, Puerto Rico — June 17, 2025. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute released the results of the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the first quarter of 2025 (January-March). The data reveals that in the urban area of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, public services registered an index of 161.0 (position 5 out of 282), equivalent to a cost 61% higher than the average of the participating jurisdictions. The main factor behind this gap is the residential electricity rate, whose price was 90.5% above the average of the urban areas participating in the study.

More expensive foods

In the supermarket category, the data reveal that the urban area of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is ranked 13th out of 282 participating urban areas in the United States, with an index of 110.7. This indicates that the cost of food in this urban area is 10.7% higher than the average for the rest of the participating areas.

Among the supermarket items considered for the COLI study, several products registered particularly high price gaps compared to the average of the participating jurisdictions.

Here are some selected items:

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An MSA is delimited according to demographic and economic criteria, considering the degree of socioeconomic integration measured by the daily movements of individuals within the urban area to their urban core. This metropolitan area has more than 2 million people, about two-thirds of the total population of Puerto Rico, so its prices affect the well-being of most households in the country.

The San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is comprised of 40 municipalities. Of these municipalities, 15 meet the characteristics for price collection according to the established methodology. These are: Bayamón, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cidra, Dorado, Gurabo, Guaynabo, Rio Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.

General MSA Indicators

Below are the overall results of the 6 categories considered for COLI.

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“The fact that the residential electricity rate in Puerto Rico is 90.5% higher than the average of the urban areas participating in the COLI shows a structural distortion in the energy system. This situation directly makes the daily lives of households more expensive and reduces their financial room for maneuver. Combined with the increase in the cost of food, this translates into a clear deterioration in the standard of living of citizens,” explained Dr. Ronald G. Hernández Maldonado, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute.

“The composite index reflects very high costs in public services and food, partially offset by relatively low prices in health care, transportation and other miscellaneous goods,” Hernández said.

The COLI, developed since 1968 by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), measures quarterly the relative cost of living in participating urban areas of the United States, including Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute offers an interactive calculator to compare the cost of living between the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and other participating cities: https://apps.estadisticas.pr/coli/.

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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