More than half of Cubans over 15 years of age have no job or seek it, according to data published on Tuesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The figure, released in the National Occupation Survey (ENO) of 2024, places Cuba with one of the lowest occupation rates in the region, with 49.1 %.
In contrast, the average in Latin America and the Caribbean last year was 58.9 %, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The fact of people outside the workforce (which is not used or seeks to be) does not contemplate the Cubans in unemployment because that figure considers the unemployed who seek to change their work status.
In that case, the rate is 1.6 %, one of the lowest in the region.
Similarly, the document is revealed that more than half of those employed are over 45 years old. The average age of employees is 44.3 years.
Among people with work, almost 50 % (48.8 %) are between 45 and 64 years. While 47.3 % of Cubans in unemployment are between 15 and 34 years old.
More than a quarter of 9.7 million Cubans is 60 years old or more, according to the Onei, which places the country as one of the most aging in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Different NGOs, independent analysts and, more recently, the government themselves have warned of the lack of young labor due above all to the migration of Cubans of working age and the aging of the population.
On the other hand, state salaries are currently below the cost of living. Between 2021 and 2024 the real average salary adjusted to inflation fell by 33.5 %, according to estimates of Cuban expert Pedro Monreal, based on official data.
