PUERTO RICO'S POPULATION IS AROUND 3.3 MILLION IN 2017

It has fallen by 10% since the most recent 2010 Decennial Census

San Juan, PR — El U.S. Census Bureau released today the most recent annual population estimates for Puerto Rico. These statistics refer to July 1, 2017 and include the components of annual population change since July 1, 2010 that support the population estimate since the beginning of the decade. As the leading entity of the Network State Data Center (SDC) of the U.S. Census Bureau in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) presents this brief summary of the findings of the new annual population estimates for 2017:

1. The population of Puerto Rico was estimated at 3,337,177 people as of July 1, 2017.
2. In contrast to the last 2010 Census when the official population count resulted in 3,725,789 people, the new estimate points to a cumulative population decrease in the current decade of 10 percent up to 2017. That is, a population decline at a rate of -1.5% each year on average (annualized rate).
3. As for the resident population of 18 years of age or older, this was estimated at 2,680.381 million, comprising 80% of the resident population of Puerto Rico.
4. The components of population change considered for the estimates assume that, between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017, there were 28,000 births and 29,000 deaths in Puerto Rico. For the first time, annual population estimates reflected natural population growth (the number of births minus the number of deaths) that results in more deaths than births. Regarding migration, the net balance was close to -68 thousand people during the same period.

More statistics on Puerto Rico's annual population estimates can be obtained at: https://censo.estadisticas.pr. Information on the methodology used to produce the estimates can be accessed hither.

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After conducting a decennial Census, such as the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau prepare the annual population estimates before the next Census. These estimates are prepared by analyzing data on births, deaths and migration. As a result, with each new publication of the estimates, adjustments are made to the previously estimated years. For example, with the publication of the 2017 estimates announced in this release, the estimates already published for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 were revised. Each publication is distinguished according to the year in which they were produced and are named as Vintage.

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 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 by means of 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 SDC in Puerto Rico, the Institute 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 (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's 10-year population and housing censuses, among others.

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

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes: (787) 688-0401

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PRESS RELEASE June 26th, 2018
DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS REGARDING THE APPROVAL OF P. C. 1403 BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUERTO RICO

We are waiting to hear the results of the conference committees so that we can know what will be approved. However, we take the liberty of making some statements in general terms about our feelings.

We are struck by the lack of legislation to advance the transparency agenda in this session. Added to that is the possible approval of P. de la C. 1403 with which, far from promoting greater transparency, the Legislative Assembly would seem to take several steps backwards on that important agenda.

In recent days, we have seen how municipal governments, on their own, have begun to take steps towards greater transparency in the way they manage public funds. It leaves deafening silence the months and years that the central government has ignored the possibility of participating free of charge in the same Puerto Rico Financial Transparency System, which municipal governments are now beginning to adopt.

In the same way, even though there is a virtual global scientific consensus in favor of allowing the Institute of Statistics to continue to carry out its functions independently, the Government also seems to ignore it.

On this occasion, not only in Puerto Rico but in the world, they are observing the steps taken by the Legislative Assembly in the coming days with respect to P. de la C. 1403. With the recent experience of the incomplete count of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria, the Government's commitment to transparency will once again be called into question with the approval of P. de la C. 1403.

It's important for me to stress that:

1. This issue has nothing to do with this server but with the defense of the institution's independence. If the Governor were available for dialogue and to desist from his intention to amend the Institute's Organic Law, this servant would leave the Executive Directorate of the Institute immediately.
2. The Institute has 2 administrative jobs. There is no way to achieve savings by merging administrative aspects, when the Institute maintains such a small administrative workforce.
3. There is no political partisanship in the Institute. For years, the Board of Directors with members of different ideologies have been able to work together, just like the professionals they are. This year, for reasons beyond our control, an attempt was made for the first time to introduce partisan politics into the Institute, but so far the Institute has successfully rejected this attempt.
4. In these 10 years, the Institute has achieved significant improvements in Puerto Rico's statistics, despite the obstacles presented by the government apparatus and partisan politics. The reorganization of the Institute will take us back to the last century, and there will be little that the federal government can do to remedy the situation.
5. Thousands of people, 47 world-renowned scientific organizations, 16 congressmen, the Private Sector Coalition, the Transparency Network, the National Academy for the Advancement of the Sciences, the American Statistical Association, the Royal Statistical Society and the Fiscal Oversight Board, among many others, have recommended that the Institute be maintained as an autonomous entity of the Government of Puerto Rico and independent, free from political intervention.

The approval of P. de la C. 1403 is a serious mistake. The Legislative Assembly should not participate in eliminating what it once created to protect the same legislators from being manipulated with erroneous or incomplete information that the Executive Branch controls to ensure that the measures that the current Government wishes are approved. Legislators have the floor.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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