PRESS RELEASE

PUERTO RICO STATE DATA CENTER NETWORK (SDC-PR)

Just over 2% of the population emigrated in 2017

This is indicated by the net migratory balance in the most recent Migrant Profile

San Juan, PR, August 23, 2019 — During the calendar year 2017, it was estimated that around 2.4% of the population immigrated to other jurisdictions in the United States, translating into nearly 77,000 people in net terms. This was revealed by the Migrant Profile 2017, 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 2017. Within 13 years of information from the Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, this figure marks the migratory peak of this source. In addition, the profile uses information on the net movement of air passengers from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Ports Authority. Here are the main findings:

1. In 2017, Puerto Rico's migration indicators expanded, showing the effect of the impact of hurricanes: 97,000 people migrated to the United States, increasing the record level of Community Survey data from the previous year
   • 77,000 people migrated to the United States in net terms, a new mark compared to information from the Community Survey
   • 27,000 people immigrated to the United States with some post-secondary education in net terms, according to the Community Survey
   • 294 thousand air passengers to all destinations in net terms according to BTS
2. The migratory trend intensified in the current decade (2010-2017); in net terms:
3. • 458,000 people migrated to other jurisdictions in the United States, according to the Community Survey
   • 737,000 air passengers left for all destinations, according to BTS

3. The ten states with the highest emigration from Puerto Rico (2017), in descending order, were Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina.

4. The median income of emigrants and immigrants between Puerto Rico and the United States fell by 11% and 2%, respectively.

5. By 2017, 37% of emigrants and 50% of immigrants were living in poverty, according to the Community Survey.

6. According to data from the Community Survey, the management and professional occupational group continued to have the highest proportion among emigrants, followed by service occupations. As for specific occupations:

• • It was estimated that between 657 and 4,043 emigrants were employed as packers and packers. From 1,072 to 3,416 they were employed as customer service representatives.
  • In turn, it was estimated that 924 to 3,170 were teachers and 774 to 2,676 were responsible for building maintenance and cleaning.

“The continuity in the publication of the Migrant Profile allows us to contrast the most recent estimates of the migrant population against the behavior of previous years. The various series show the trend and changes in the size and characteristics of migrants in demographic and socio-economic aspects. This new publication reflects the immediate effect of the impact of the hurricanes up to December 2017, maximizing the migratory flow to figures never before recorded in Puerto Rico. In the field of education, for the third consecutive year (2015-2017), more than 50% of emigrants aged 25 and over had some post-secondary education. On the other hand, the scenario is presented that more than a third of emigrants, once residing in a state, live below the poverty level.” said Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute.

See more details and information about the 2017 Migrant Profile, as well as previous publications, in the Publications section of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics: Publications.

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. 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. 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:

Idia Martínez

787-603-3200

imartinez@upfrontpr.net

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Statistics Institute launches Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to facilitate access to data.

PRESS RELEASE

February 7, 2018

DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Executive Director of the Institute assures that it is a “dangerous precedent” and guarantees the loss of federal funds the merger of that body into the DDEC

San Juan, PR, February 7, 2018 — After asserting that its provisions are contrary to federal and state public policy aimed at preventing the manipulation of data and statistics, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (Institute), Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, today expressed his opposition to House Project 1403 (P. de la C. 1403), which proposes the merger of the Institute into the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) in order to outsource its functions.

“The provisions on the Institute of Statistics in P. de la C. 1403 are contrary to federal and state public policy aimed at avoiding the manipulation of data and statistics, to benefit the interests of current administrations or private interests with influence. In short, these constitute a dangerous precedent that destroys the credibility of a transparent, effective, objective and complete system of collecting statistical data for the benefit of Puerto Rico,” said Marazzi-Santiago during the presentation of his paper to the Special Commission for the Restructuring and Reorganization of Puerto Rico and the Chamber of Government Commission.

The Executive Director of the Institute anticipated that if the Reorganization Plan is approved and implemented, the Institute will also result in the loss of federal funds in that body. He recalled that on December 18, 2017, the New Government of Puerto Rico Act, No. 122-2017, was approved in order to maximize personal resources to the Executive Branch and the transfer, outsourcing and creation of new and more efficient government structures and agencies. Article 4.02 of that Act provides that “any change to a program or agency under this Act will be rescinded if the change results in the loss of federal funds in a program being used in Puerto Rico.”

He added that, likewise, Article 14 of Reorganization Plan No. 1 provides that any change to a program or agency under this Act “will be rescinded if the change results in the loss of federal funds in a program being used in Puerto Rico.” In the case of the Institute, the proposed consolidation with the DDEC and the subsequent outsourcing guarantee Puerto Rico's non-compliance with current agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under the National Violent Death Registration System, a federal competitive grant that the Institute won recently, said Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

“We have a duty to alert this honorable Commission to take corrective action and amend P. de la C. 1403 accordingly. Specifically, in accordance with Article 4.02 of Law No. 122-2017, P. de la C. 1403 must be amended by deleting the entire chapter dedicated to the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

Dr. Marazzi-Santiago took advantage of his participation to propose three changes through which greater independence could effectively be achieved for the Institute, unlike the ill-advised measures contained in P. de la C. 1403. The following are the alternatives presented in his paper:

1. The Institute's Board has 1 member who is a government official. This may limit the Institute's independence. To address this detail, Act No. 209 can be amended so that no member of the Institute's Board of Directors is a government official. This ensures the Institute's ability to operate independently. They would all be private citizens, with no connection to current or previous political administrations, nominated on the basis of their personal and professional integrity and objectivity, and their educational preparation and demonstrated competence in the use of statistics, and will work on behalf of the users of the data, and not of other interests.
2. Exempt the Institute from administrative laws that hinder its ability to operate regardless of political influences and that increase bureaucracy, without implying that the Institute in any way abandon the healthy public administration policies that have distinguished its operations since its inception. This includes Laws 66- 2014, 3-2017, 8-2017 and 26-2017. The Institute must be able to appoint the experts it deems appropriate to complete its highly technical tasks and to manage its allocated budget without political influence.
3. Provide for all or some of the candidates for the Institute's Board to be proposed by professional and industry associations that represent these fields of expertise rather than government officials.

On the other hand, with regard to the Institute's financial self-sustainability, Dr. Marazzi-Santiago assured that a bill (P. del S. 12) already exists before the Legislative Assembly that proposes amendments to the Institute's Enabling Act and that would empower it and would allow it to obtain a greater portion of its income from sources outside the Government of Puerto Rico, so it is unnecessary to outsource the statistics system to achieve these purposes.

The Executive Director of the Institute also highlighted that there is broad and open opposition both at the local and federal levels to the provisions related to the Institute in Reorganization Plan No. 1 and in P. de la C. 1403, including the American Statistical Association, the largest professional association of statisticians in the world, as well as 15 Democratic and Republican congressmen, the Puerto Rico Private Sector Coalition, the Puerto Rico Transparency Network and about 2,000 people who formalized in just over a week your position through a cyber request on the portal change.org.

“As a result of the above-mentioned operational and fiscal independence, and of the sound public resource management policies adopted by the Institute since its inception, the Institute is one of very few governmental entities in Puerto Rico characterized by its efficiency and agility, by never having incurred a budget deficit, and by making the best possible use of the budgetary allocations it receives. In other words, the Institute is not part of the problem of bureaucracy, redundancy and inefficiency that Act No. 122-2017 and P. de la C. 1403 intend to address. On the contrary, the Institute is a public entity that serves as a model of public administration,” concluded Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

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, about 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 Puerto Rico's SDC, the IEPR 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 and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial 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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