The number of post-secondary graduates in creative disciplines is decreasing

According to the Puerto Rico Creative Industries Report 2020 from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

April 21, 2023. A decline in the number of post-secondary graduates in creative disciplines is part of the data presented in the Creative Industries Report in Puerto Rico 2020 published by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. This report collects social, economic and labor indicators for the development of creative industries in Puerto Rico. In this sixth edition, in addition to multiple economic and demographic indicators, post-secondary education indicators are included as a means of establishing a profile on the input of human capital to this commercial and industrial sector.

“The year 2020 was one where all economic and social activities were affected by isolation measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The creative industries were no exception,” said Dr. Francisco Pesante, lead author of the study, who explained that, for this reason, this report shows, among others, data related to post-secondary graduates in creative disciplines that totaled 1,963 people, which represents a decrease compared to previous years (2,210 in 2019; 2,453 in 2018).

The Puerto Rico Creative Industries Report 2020 details the following aspects: Number of graduates by level of post-secondary education; Number of establishments by number of employees; Number of registered establishments by industrial sector; Number of registered employees and distribution by sex by Creative Industry; Average annual wage by specific industry; Average annual salary of some creative occupations per year; Ratio of creative establishments per population in municipalities and Value of imports and exports of creative industries.

The scope of this report, Pesante reported, is limited to data sets where standardized industrial or occupational coding systems are used. As for economic indicators, the data handled are limited to establishments with people on the payroll. Therefore, this report does not include data on people who are self-employed, nor does it include data on people who work voluntarily or did not report their creative activities as their main source of income.

As a summary, the Puerto Rico Creative Industries Report 2020 presents the following data:

1. Post-secondary graduates in creative disciplines totaled 1,963 people. Graphic Design (14.7%), Computer Science (12.3%) and Digital Graphic Design (11.3%) were the disciplines with the highest number of graduates.
2. The total number of creative establishments ranged from 1,844, according to U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) and 2,019 establishments according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages). 67.3% correspond to establishments with 1 to 4 employees (CBP). In this area, companies dedicated to Computer System Design (10.3%), Advertising Agencies (9.8%) and Computer Programming Services (9.3%) dominated.
3. The number of employees in creative industries totaled 15,818, mainly employed as Computer Programming Services (15.9%), Computer Systems Design (14.1%) and Newspaper Publishing (11.0%).
4. The profession with the most equitable distribution by sex was the Souvenir, Gift or Novelty Stores sector (with 54.6% occupied by women and 45.4% by men).
5. The highest average salaries were reported by Software Publishing occupations ($151,073). As for average salaries for creative occupations, the maximum value corresponds to Architects, except landscape designers ($52,990), while the minimum wage includes library assistants ($18,920).
6. At the island level, Puerto Rico registered a rate of 6.13 establishments dedicated to creative activities, per 10,000 inhabitants. Seven municipalities did not register establishments with people on the payroll, dedicated to creative activities. The municipality with the lowest rate per 10,000 inhabitants was Loíza with 0.42, while San Juan had the highest concentration, with 24.7 establishments per 10,000 inhabitants.
7. The value of imports of goods classified under the creative sectors exceeded exports, with a negative trade balance of $184,870.354 million for Puerto Rico.

Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director, explained that the main objective of this report is to offer both the government of Puerto Rico and all citizens a tool to enrich knowledge about the creative economy in Puerto Rico and thus promote the economic development of this sector. “Through the Creative Industries Report 2020, we can understand the economic value of creativity and innovation in Puerto Rico. Having these data and statistics is crucial for economic development and for harnessing the full potential of creative industries in Puerto Rico's recovery and growth.”

The Puerto Rico Creative Industries Report 2020 is available at: Creative Industries 2020

You can also access a Dashboard, where some of the data presented in this report are collected, through the following link https://bit.ly/3UPckEd.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is a governmental entity in the executive branch, with fiscal and administrative autonomy, whose main purpose is to ensure that Puerto Rico has complete, reliable statistics that are quickly and universally accessible. To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr. On social media through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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PRESS RELEASE

Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

729 homicides and 276 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2017

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) established at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for 2017. The report reports that, in 925 documented incidents of violent deaths, there were 1,025 victims. According to the PRVDRS, violent deaths are those that occur primarily by suicide or homicide.

The data indicate that 70.3% of the incidents were classified as single or multiple homicides, 26.3% were single incidents of suicide and 1.4% of the incidents were homicide-suicides. In 2017, six homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in 14 fatalities, of which eight were classified as homicides and six as suicides. In addition, during this period, three violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.3%) and 17 violent deaths with undetermined intent (1.7%) were documented. The report concludes that in 2017 there were a total of 729 homicides and 276 suicides in Puerto Rico.

In 2017, the crude homicide rate was 21.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, 43.8 in men (1 in 31 men) and 2.1 in women (1 in 650 women). The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. 45.5% of the 729 homicides are documented as related to drug trafficking and organized crime. The report also indicates that firearms were used in practically all homicides related to organized crime (97.9%). In Puerto Rico, according to the report, 90% of homicides are committed with firearms, more than double the global average of 41.2%. 82.1% of these weapons are pistols or revolvers. The report of Small Arms Survey In 2017, it estimated that 422,000 firearms were in legal (registered by the police) and illegal possession in Puerto Rico; that is, approximately 12 out of every 100 people owned a firearm. PRVDRS data for 2017 show that firearms continue to be the primary mechanism for homicides in both men (91.3%) and women (64.9%).

Of the 21 homicides with evidence of family violence, 18 are the result of conflicts in partner or ex-partner relationships. The majority of these victims are women (72.2%) and 17 of the 18 suspects are men (94.4%). The circumstances in these homicides relate to immediate or ongoing conflict, or to violence between partners or ex-partners (72.2%), a crisis between intimate partners (33.3%) or jealousy over a current or previous intimate partner relationship (16.7%). In 53.8% of male-female relationships, femicide occurred using a firearm and in 38.5% a sharp instrument.

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 (84.4%). In 2017, the crude suicide rate was 8.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, 14.7 in men (1 of 97 men) and 2.5 in women (1 of 536 women). The main mechanism was asphyxiation.

Myribel Santiago, manager of statistical projects at the Institute of Statistics and co-principal investigator of the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico, explained that the collection of this type of data involves fieldwork that takes more than 16 months from the moment the incident occurs, the data is recorded and collected, among the collaborating agencies, until the closure and disclosure of the data. “We are pleased to have completed the first annual report of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Santiago, who highlighted that the PRVDRS ranked number one in excellence in the timeliness and completeness of the 2017 data, among the 42 jurisdictions participating in the NVDRS in the United States.

“This system 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 Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, 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 a basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, demographic and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Institute of Statistics 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 tasked with 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 accessible quickly and universally.

The 2017 Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico is available at: Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System. To learn about the Institute of Statistics, you can access it on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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Contact:

Dr. Orville M. Disdier

787-586-4414

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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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