Scotiabank, the Association of Industrialists and the Institute of Statistics present the Puerto Rico Manufacturing - Purchasing Managers Index

Population reduction continues in Puerto Rico's municipalities

This is indicated by the estimates for the month of July 2022 of the U.S. Census Bureau

San Juan, PR, March 30, 2023 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released the most recent Annual Population Estimates data for municipalities in Puerto Rico, as well as for counties in the United States. These statistics refer to July 1, 2022 and include estimates of the total population for each municipality and the population change in the current decade. On behalf of the U.S. Census Bureau's Network of Data and Census Information Centers (SDC-PR) in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) reported several findings from the new publication of population estimates for the year 2022:

1. Compared to the 2020 Decennial Census with reference to April 1, 2020, compared to the most recent year available, July 1, 2022, estimates indicate that:
   • Changes in the population of residents in municipalities ranged from 0.8% to -7.2%.
   • In 99% of the municipalities, a population decrease was estimated. Only for the municipality of Rincón, a slight increase (0.8%) was estimated.
   • Some 15 municipalities reflected an estimated reduction of more than three percent (3%) in the comparative period.
   • The total population of all of Puerto Rico is estimated to have fallen by two percent (2%), translating to nearly 64,000 fewer residents than in April 2020.

2. In relation to the geographical aspect between municipalities, with regard to the change in the total population estimated up to the year 2022, the interactive map provides the geographical distribution.

In this one you can identify:

• • The five municipalities with the highest percentage of population decline were Guánica (-7.2%), Loíza (-4.4%), Guayanilla (-4.0%), Ponce (-3.9%) and Maricao (-3.8%).
    • Four of the five municipalities are located in the south and west of Puerto Rico, and Loíza, on the other hand, in the northeast.
  • The five municipalities with the lowest percentage of population decline were Barranquitas (-0.1%), Naranjito (-0.1%), Aibonito (-0.3%), Isabela (-0.4%) and Moca (-0.5%).
    • The first three municipalities are located in the central area (Barranquitas, Naranjito and Aibonito) and the last two (Isabela and Moca) in the western part of Puerto Rico.

“The pattern of population estimates continues to show a tendency to decrease, a trait of which, at the level of Puerto Rico, we are already approaching nearly two decades (since 2005) of being an increasingly smaller resident population but with a different demographic composition,” said Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, Senior Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute. As an interactive summary, the Institute published a visualization that allows us to see the new series of estimates at the municipal level, facilitating geographical comparison within Puerto Rico. This visualization can be accessed at: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/node/517.

The tables with the annual population estimates for Puerto Rico and its municipalities can be accessed at: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/EstimadosPoblacionales, as well as in the data dissemination tool of the U.S. Census Bureau: data.census.gov. In addition, as the leading entity of the State Data Center of 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 decennial population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: censo.estadisticas.pr.

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.gov or write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

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PRESS RELEASE

Office of the President

Vital for the country that mayors mobilize to obtain

Responses to the 2020 Census

President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Statistics made an urgent appeal to municipal officials given the low participation of only 25% of the response

The president of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, economist and university professor Nicolás Muñoz-Muñoz, urged all mayors to mobilize the resources of municipal agencies to visit street by street, combing all communities to alert families to the importance of filling out the 2020 Population Census form. I am taking all preventive and protective measures as far as COVID-19 is concerned.

As of July 13, only 25% of families had answered the Census. This, according to Muñoz, represents half of those who had answered the Census in 2010. In mid-July, the level of response in municipalities ranged from 14 to 31 percent. “It is vital for municipalities and their inhabitants that the federal funds that arrive are not reduced by 25% or more. Without downplaying the exercise of the democratic right to vote, designating resources to help citizens complete the Census should be considered as meritorious as the efforts being made for the primary and electoral process,” Muñoz said.

“If mobilization were not promoted to encouraging communities to dedicate 15 minutes to answering the form, we would add another disaster to the chain of events that have occurred in the country since the earthquake in January to the present. In this case, a disaster whose consequences would last 10 years,” said Muñoz.

The economist explained that, if 25% of the population does not answer, Puerto Rico could result in a population of less than 3 million and could receive 25% less federal funding, equivalent to $5 billion annually or $50 billion over 10 years, if we consider an average current allocation of $20 billion annually. This is without considering additional special allocations in the case of natural disasters.

It was also reported that more than 300 federal programs base the distribution of funds on population data. These programs include federal funding for road construction, agriculture, rural development, housing, urban development, solid waste management, telecommunications infrastructure, drinking water, protection of coastal resources, assistance for paying household rent, education, justice, nutrition assistance programs, school breakfasts, child care, workforce development under the WIOA Act (among other laws), assistance for the elderly and health, including Medicaid, and other programs.

“The economic situation of municipalities will worsen if access to federal funds allocated by Congress is reduced. Every Puerto Rican who can read and write can fill out the Census form. It can be filled out “online” or on paper. Each neighbor can help another neighbor who can't read and write or how to fill it out, particularly older adults. It's everyone's job, but mayors, who are the officials closest to the needs of citizens, must exercise their leadership in this vital priority for Puerto Rico,” Muñoz concluded.

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Press Contact:

Idia M. Martínez

787-603-3200

imartinez@upfrontpr.net

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