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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Puerto Rico is included in the U.S. Cost of Living Index

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PRESS RELEASE

DISRUPTED THE MOVEMENT OF PASSENGERS AFTER HURRICANES

Federal data on passenger departures and arrivals on domestic flights confirm this

San Juan, PR, December 19, 2017 — Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) published the statistics on air traffic in the United States and Puerto Rico, known as Air Carrier Statistics, for the month of September 2017. These data are provided by airlines to BTS on a monthly basis and represent the first official data published by the federal Government on the movement of air passengers following the passage of hurricanes Irma and María over Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) presents this brief summary of several findings from this disclosure:

1) Compared to September 2016, the number of air passengers arriving in Puerto Rico dropped by 45 percent, from 238 thousand passengers to only 131 thousand. In the same way, passenger departures from Puerto Rico fell from 254,000 passengers to 173,000 for a decrease of 32 percent.

2) All major destinations and origins of flights from Puerto Rico were affected. The states that experienced the largest percentage reductions in passenger arrivals from Puerto Rico were: Florida, Connecticut, Texas, Georgia, and Illinois. The states with the largest percentage reductions in passenger departures to Puerto Rico were: Florida, Illinois, Connecticut, Texas and Maryland.

3) In 2016, 88,000 net people left Puerto Rico on domestic flights. In recent months, this figure had shown signs of diminishing, falling to almost 60,000 net passengers. With the data just released, this number once again expanded to 93,000 passengers for the 12-month period between October 2016 and September 2017.

Note: Flights within Puerto Rico (intra-island) are excluded. States that received less than a thousand passengers from Puerto Rico in September 2016 are excluded, so the sum of the states is slightly different from the total reported in the table.

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Regarding the movement of passengers, Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute, said: “The net movement of passengers in the last 12 months allows us to approximate the behavior of the migratory trend, which in itself is volatile. Data released as of September 2017 are beginning to validate the repercussions after the natural event. First, a decline in air passenger flow due to airport interruptions and second, an increase in more people leaving than returning to the island. In other words, the figure for September 2017 predicts a new increase in emigration, which in itself has fluctuated for more than a decade at high values compared to the size of the population of Puerto Rico.”

More details on data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics can be obtained at: https://www.transtats.bts.gov/. You can also access the air flight dataset with cargo and passenger information at https://datos.estadisticas.pr.

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 Institute has in its inventory, accessible through statistics.pr.gov, over 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a custodian 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. For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr. 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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