Cuba's population kept a trend of aging and natural decrease in 2023, with some 90,300 births, the lowest figure in the last six decades, government data confirmed on Friday.
Havana, Cuba.- The inertial behavior of demographic indicators poses numerous challenges for territorial authorities, organizations, academic institutions, and social stockholders in general, the Government Commission that addresses that matter acknowledged.
Granma newspaper reported that the work team discussed the need to take a “deep and comprehensive look” at issues associated with the decrease in the global fertility rate and care for the elderly, the only population group that has grown in recent years.
Given this scenario, “the understanding, attention, and control of the demographic situation require a change of mentality,” said Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, who was quoted by the newspaper.
“We are talking about Government projections to correct distortions, and here there are many distortions, and re-boosting the economy in this matter is fulfilling everything we have proposed, because all of this directly impacts the population.”
The prime minister assured that the Commission will redouble its management system, with the establishment of monthly evaluations on each of the aspects related to the issue, subject to the control of several subcommittees.
According to Marrero, there will always be dissatisfaction due to “those things that we cannot achieve, but that has to make us grow to look for alternative solutions.”
Financial and material limitations hurt the implementation of the Policy for Attention to Demographic Dynamics in Cuba, but it is necessary to analyze the causes of non-compliance in programs and indicators with the greatest impact on the population exhaustively, he warned.
According to First Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning Mildrey Granadillo, the plan approved for 2024 includes attention to grandparents’ homes and nursing homes, as well as increasing capacities in daycare centers.
The deputy director of the Center for Demographic Studies of the University of Havana, Matilde Molina, explained that an investigation in 33 municipalities offered new insights into the complexity of the phenomenon.
In two municipalities, the 15-19 age group is the first that contributes to fertility, and in 19 territories the second group that contributes the most to the indicator is also that of 15 to 19 years; that is, “there are “21 territories that need to be looked at directly to know what is happening there.”
Regarding the elderly, Granadillo noted that the issue is not only aging but the high proportion of people in the most fragile ages, 85 years and older.
