Special report on the compliance of agencies and municipalities with appointments to the Statistics Coordination Committee - 2027-01

Announcements
IEPR
17 September 2026

Statistics Institute steps up oversight of agencies and municipalities failing to appoint representatives to the Statistics Coordination Committee

39.7% of municipalities and 14.8% of executive branch agencies are currently non-compliant

The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (Institute) has intensified its oversight of agencies, public entities, and municipalities that have failed to fulfill their duty to appoint a representative to the Statistics Coordination Committee (CCE). As part of this effort, the Institute has published Special Report 2027-01, which identifies 16 executive branch agencies and entities, as well as 31 municipalities, that remained non-compliant as of August 31, 2026, despite requests and follow-ups made since January. These entities must complete their appointments immediately or face further findings, potential administrative fines, and other legal actions.

Under the Institute’s organic law, the Statistics Coordination Committee serves as the government’s advisory, coordinating, and participatory body for Puerto Rico’s Statistical Production Service. This body is responsible for ensuring the flow and continuity of statistical data and information, resolving issues regarding access to such data, and proposing solutions to problems related to the operation of statistical units. Furthermore, the Statistics Coordination Committee Regulations stipulate that, upon request by the Institute’s Executive Directorate, the head of each government entity must fulfill the duty of appointing the CCE member who will represent that entity on the Committee.

Special Report 2027-01 shows that 85.2% of executive branch agencies and public entities are in compliance. Conversely, the compliance rate for municipalities is lower, at 60.3%. Meanwhile, 14.8% of executive branch agencies and public entities are non-compliant, as are 39.7% of municipalities.

“Compliance with CCE appointments is an essential requirement, as it ensures that Puerto Rico has access to complete, reliable, and universally accessible statistics. For this reason, since the beginning of 2026, the Institute has conducted an extraordinary campaign to promote and monitor compliance. Special Report 2027-01 on CCE appointments reflects a considerable increase in designations, as previously less than 50% of agencies had appointments and very few municipalities had designated representatives. Despite this progress, the report also shows that there are still agencies in non-compliance, and, in particular, many municipalities that have yet to meet this requirement,” stated Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director of the Institute of Statistics.

Details regarding which entities and municipalities are non-compliant (having failed to meet the appointment requirement) can be found in Section 3 of Special Report 2027-01. Additionally, Section 2 lists the executive branch entities and municipalities that are in compliance (having met the appointment requirement).  

Agencies and municipalities that have already fulfilled their CCE appointment requirements do not need to take any further action at this time. However, those that are non-compliant must immediately complete and submit the appointment form (FormularioDesignaciónCCE-31-10-2025) to Dr. Idania Rodríguez Ayuso, the Institute’s Deputy Executive Director (idania.rodriguez@estadisticas.pr), with a copy to Jacobo Orenstein Cardona, the Institute’s Executive Assistant (jacobo.orenstein@estadisticas.pr).

“We urge all executive branch agencies and entities, as well as all municipalities that remain non-compliant, to take immediate action to avoid further findings and potential fines,” added Disdier.

You can access the full report at: Special report on the compliance of agencies and municipalities with appointments to the Statistics Coordination Committee - 2027-01.

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Reduction of Puerto Rico's trade balance of surplus

San Juan, Puerto Rico — August 21, 2025. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute published foreign trade data for the month of June 2025, allowing for an analysis of performance in terms of international trade for fiscal year 2025, which covers July 2024 to June 2025. Annual exports totaled $60,652,028,821, representing a decrease of 7.23% compared to the previous fiscal year, while annual imports totaled $56,372,227,806, representing an increase of 4.64% compared to the same previous period. This results in a trade balance of $4,279,801,015, a figure that reflects a decrease of 62.8% compared to the $11,508,357,246 recorded in 2024 and constitutes the lowest value in the entire 2010-2025 series. The trade balance is the indicator that measures the difference between the value of exports and that of imports of goods from a jurisdiction. A surplus occurs when exports exceed imports; a deficit, when the opposite happens. This indicator constitutes one of the main measures of international trade, since it reflects both productive capacity and the level of dependence on foreign goods. In general terms, productive capacity refers to what Puerto Rico is able to produce and sell (reflected in exports), and the level of dependence on what Puerto Rico needs to buy abroad (is reflected in imports).

The price of eggs in the urban area of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is 40% higher than the average in urban areas of the United States

40% higher the price of eggs in the urban area of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas

Similarly, grocery items are 11.4% more expensive in this area than the average among 295 participating urban areas in the United States

San Juan, Puerto Rico — November 22, 2024. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute released the results of the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the third quarter of 2024, corresponding to the months of July, August and September. The data reveals that the urban area of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is ranked number 18 in the supermarket category. In percentage terms, the supermarket items in the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA are 11.4% more expensive than the average among 295 participating urban areas in the United States.

Within the category of supermarket items, the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA is positioned as the most expensive urban area in the United States for the cost of eggs, ranking first in the ranking. This means that this product is 40% higher than the average in urban areas of the United States. On the other hand, in the health care category, the visit to the general practitioner is in position number 295, while dental cleaning is in position 293, positioning the urban area as one of the most affordable among the participants in the country for these services.

In terms of the overall Cost of Living, the urban area of Metropolitan Statistical Area San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is ranked 80th out of 295 in the United States, with a composite index of 102.3. This indicates that the cost of living in this area is 2.3% higher than the average of participating urban areas in the United States.

Below are the indexes and rankings by category for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA:

 

Category

Index

Ranking

Utilities

155.3

5/295

Grocery items

111.4

18/295

Housing

102.1

83/295

Transportation

91.1

238/295

Miscellaneous goods and services

92.4

246/295

Health care

70.5

295/295

COLI Index

102.3

80/295

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The composite index is derived from six main categories of consumer spending, with high costs in public services and supermarket items highlighted. These are partially offset by relatively low costs in health care and miscellaneous goods and services.

The 15 municipalities that make up the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and that meet the characteristics for price collection according to the established methodology are: Bayamón, Caguas, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cidra, Dorado, Gurabo, Guaynabo, Rio Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.

“The COLI results for the third quarter of 2024 show that in the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA, public services, grocery items and housing are, on average, much more expensive than in most participating MSAs in the rest of the United States. The COLI, carried out by the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute, is an essential tool for evidence-based decision-making related to the development and economic growth of Puerto Rico,” explained Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director of the Institute.

COLI is a crucial tool for understanding regional differences in the costs of consumer goods and services. The indices are calculated based on data collected quarterly in each participating urban area. Since 1968, the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) has developed this widely recognized methodology.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute also offers a comparative cost-of-living calculator between the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and the rest of the participating cities in the United States. This tool is available at: 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 visit the website: www.estadisticas.pr or 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 releases statistics on average META test results for each school

Statistics Institute releases statistics on average META test results for each school