At the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) reported that the Cuban population exceeds nine million inhabitants and closed last year with a decrease of more than 300,000 people compared to 2023.

A quarter of Cuba’s population is over 60 years of age and is the only population group that has grown in recent years, which requires raising the priority granted by the Government to programs for the care of the elderly, local television reported.

In 2024, some 71,000 births were registered, the lowest figure in recent decades, which requires strengthening fertility and maternal and child programs, the source added.

This government structure highlighted the importance of the recently created National System for the Comprehensive Care of Life, which responds to the purposes of reversing the negative indicators of Cuban demographic dynamics.

In this regard, the head of government indicated that compliance with the authorization of “children’s homes” in each territory, intended for the care of the children of working parents in state institutions, should be reviewed.

It is a social responsibility that companies and organizations in the municipalities must assume without depending on budgets and decisions by the Central Government, Marrero said.

The Center for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana and the Ministry of Economy and Planning presented evidence that indicates the possibilities of implementing public policies in this sensitive matter.

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