Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

639 homicides and 215 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2021

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for 2021. The report reports that in 2021, 816 incidents of violent deaths occurred, with a total of 880 fatalities. Of the total number of violent deaths, 97% were distributed as 639 by homicides and 215 by suicides, with the remaining 26 violent deaths (3%) due to other causes.

In 2021, 72.6% of victims of violent deaths were incidents of single or multiple homicides and 24.4% were incidents of suicide. Two homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in 4 fatalities. In addition, during this period, 2 violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.2%), three violent deaths from unintentional self-inflicted firearms (0.3%) and 21 violent deaths with undetermined intent (2.4%) were documented. In 2021, approximately 9 out of 10 victims of violent deaths (92.0%) were men. The crude rate of violent deaths for Puerto Rico in 2021 was 27.0 per 100,000 inhabitants, 52.5 in men and 4.0 in women.

Of the 880 violent deaths recorded in 2021, 639 were homicides (72.6%). The majority of homicides occurred between the ages of 15 and 39. In these age groups, 73.1% of all homicides occur among men and 59.5% among women. The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. In Puerto Rico, according to the report, 91.5% of homicides were committed with firearms, more than double the global average of 47.0%.

In 2021, the majority of homicides occurred in an environment of collective violence. In 358 of the 639 homicides (56.0%) recorded in 2021, they occurred in a context related to criminal groups, involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs.

In 2021, 31 fatal victims of family violence were reported. Family violence (violence between family members) includes child or adult abuse and violence against an intimate partner. The majority of these cases were related to violence in an intimate or former partner environment (20 cases, 64.5%). There were 11 fatal incidents among family members (35.5%). The majority of victims of intimate partner violence were women (18 cases, 90.0%). More than half of these women were victims of their current spouse or partner (61.1%), while 38.9% were victims of their ex-spouse or ex-partner. In addition, a firearm was used in 11 of the 18 femicides/femicides (61.1%).

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 (86.5%). In 2021, the crude suicide rate was 6.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, 12.0 in men (1 of 124 men) and 1.7 in women (1 of 774 women). The main mechanism was asphyxiation (64.5% in men and 55.2% in women).

Mariluz Bezares Salinas, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute and co-principal investigator of the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico, explained that the collection of this type of data could involve fieldwork that takes more than two years, from the moment the incident occurs until the collection and review of the data is completed.

“This system for reporting violent deaths 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 Institute, 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 the basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, health and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Institute is to continue strengthening this statistical and epidemiological system, to continue improving the quality of this type of data,” argued 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 United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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: https://estadisticas.pr/en/prvdrs 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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Fewer people left Puerto Rico

This is detailed in the most recent Migrant Profile 2021-2022

San Juan, PR, December 11, 2023 — During the calendar years 2021 and 2022, data from the Community Survey indicate that the net migration balance between Puerto Rico and the United States decreased from -27 to -16 thousand people emigrating or by -41%. This was revealed by the 2021-2022 Migrant Profile, which was published today by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, and which presents an overview of the migratory movement in Puerto Rico in the calendar year 2021 and 2022. On the other hand, the values continue to reflect more people leaving than entering the jurisdiction in both years. Here are several key findings:

1. Between 2021 and 2022, Puerto Rico's migration indicators according to the Community Survey showed that:
   • the number of emigrants to the United States was estimated at about 55 thousand and 43 thousand people respectively, resulting in a decrease of -21%. Since 2010, the figure had not been lower than 60,000 emigrants
   • about 27,000 people immigrated to Puerto Rico each year
   • in net terms, the migratory balance between Puerto Rico and the United States decreased from -27 to -16 thousand people emigrating or by -41%.
   • The median age of the emigrant population decreased from 31.9 to 30.3 years, and immigrants were younger than emigrants, showing a reduction in the median age from 39 to 33.8 years.
   • The net migratory balance of the population with some post-secondary education or more decreased from about ten thousand (2021) to four thousand (2022) people emigrating.
2. DDuring the last twelve years of available information (2010-2019 and 2021-2022), it was estimated, according to the Community Survey, that some 649,000 more people have moved from residence to the United States from Puerto Rico than from the United States to Puerto Rico.
3. In 2022, passenger flow indicated that:
   • The net movement by plane from Puerto Rico to all destinations (not just the United States) had between seven (-7) thousand and one thousand (-1) passengers according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Port Authority (AP), respectively.
   • the net movement of passengers by sea (ferry) between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic was less than one thousand (724) passengers, according to Caribbean Ferries.
4. The geographical distribution of emigrants to the United States was:
   • In 2022, as a destination for emigrants, 47% to the Southern region, 25% to the Northeast region and 16% to the Midwest region.
   • the Northeastern region reflected a gradual decrease in emigrants from 47% in 2005 to 25% in 2022.
   • The five states with the highest emigration from Puerto Rico were:
     • in 2021 Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and New Jersey.
     • in 2022 Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and New Jersey.

“The indicators indicate a reduction in net emigration in recent years. In other words, a decline has been identified in the notorious net migratory flows that prevailed from 2011 to 2019, where net emigration represented between 1.1% and 3.5% of the total annual population of Puerto Rico. Net emigration in 2021 and 2022 represented 0.8% and 0.5% of the total population, respectively. On the other hand, we cannot lose sight of the fact that more people continue to leave than those who enter, which continues to alter the demographic composition of our jurisdiction,” said Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, Senior Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute.

(A graph is included with the series of migration estimates (2005-2022) according to the Community Survey and link to the visualization of the Puerto Rican population in the United States in recent decades as part of the Introduction to the Migrant Profile And to the Maps with the distribution of emigrants by Profile states.)

For more details and information on the full report of the 2021-2022 Migrant Profile, as well as previous publications, you can access the Publications section of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics at the link: https://estadisticas.pr/en/publicaciones.

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As the lead entity of Puerto Rico's SDC program, the Institute manages the SDC page, 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 (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial population and housing censuses, among others.

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.pror on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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Contacts:

Lourdes Burgos, R-27, 787-562-2932

Idia M. Martinez, R-28, 787-603-3200

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Thirty municipalities have more elderly populations than young people.