Net migration to the United States reaches historic record

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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72,000 net passengers returned on domestic flights in the first 4 months of the year

The data confirms the return of people after the passage of Hurricane Maria

San Juan, PR, July 13, 2017 — The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) today released updated data on the movement of air passengers on domestic flights up to the month of April 2018, as reported by airlines to U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Here's a summary of the most striking results:

• In the last 4 months of last year (September to December 2017), during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, about -200,000 net passengers departed on domestic flights.

• In contrast, in the first 4 months of the year (January to April 2018), about 72,000 people arrived in Puerto Rico in net terms on domestic flights.

• This represents a notable change from previous years. For example, for the same period last year (January to April 2017), instead of experiencing a net passenger arrival, almost -40,000 net air passengers had departed.

• In the first 10 months of fiscal year 2017-18, there was a net movement of air passengers on domestic flights of almost -155 thousand air passengers. In the last 3 calendar years (2014, 2015 and 2016), the net movement of air passengers on domestic flights was an average departure of -89,000 passengers per year.

“We have been trying to identify a return pattern after Hurricane Maria for some time. Finally, these data confirm that trend. Although the figure does not indicate that a similar number of people have returned among those who left after the Hurricane, the data suggests that this return process has begun. We will have to see how the movement of passengers behaves during this summer to get a more complete picture. But, for now, these data suggest that for fiscal year 2017-18 there will be a net migration of approximately -150 to -170 thousand people. If so, this will represent an increase in the migratory wave that Puerto Rico had been experiencing before the Hurricane, which was around -90,000 people a year before the passage of Hurricane Maria. But, at the same time, it will represent a substantially lower increase than the -250,000 people that had been projected in the last Fiscal Plan,” said Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, executive director of the Institute.

Data on the net movement of air passengers can be downloaded from: https://indicadores.pr/dataset/vuelos-pasajeros-aereos-y-carga-puerto-rico.

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 in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.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.

In addition, as the leading entity of the Puerto Rico SDC, the IEPR manages the SDC portal, where you can find 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 (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 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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