The sugar industry collapsed 46.7%, agriculture fell 20.5%and fishing 22.4%; The accumulated economic setback between 2019 and 2024 reaches an annual average of -1.9%.
Madrid, Spain.- The figures published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2024 allow specific numbers to the reality of Cuba: the continuous deterioration of the economy. The economist Mauricio de Miranda Parrondo, after analyzing the official data – scheduled at constant prices of 1997—,, concludes that the contraction of the productive sectors is so severe that “illustrates the level of collapse of the country’s economic activity.”
Beyond the percentages, the analysis reveals the magnitude of the recoil. The sugar industry fell 46.7%, fishing 22.4% and the agricultural sector (including livestock, hunting and forestry) was reduced by 20.5%. They also suffered strong contractions the generation and distribution of electricity, gas and water (-10.6%), the non-sugar manufacturing industry (-9.6%), trade (-8.8%) and education (-9.9%). To this are added the setbacks in science and technological innovation (-6.1%) and in Public Administration, Defense and Social Security (-4.6%). These are key sectors for the operation of the country, all in decline.
Although some sectors reported growth – such as transportation, storage and communications (9.7%), hotels and restaurants (5.3%) and construction (4.4%) -, from Miranda warns that behind those figures can hide distortions. For example, the communications rise could be explained by the income of the state Etecsa, while urban transport remains “In a comatose state.”
The economist also questions the efficiency of public spending. In 2024, 25.3% of national investment concentrated in business services, real estate and rental activities, a sector that barely grew 0.7%. “This shows how inefficient the investments made,” he says.
Miranda is not limited to an annual photograph. Its analysis of the 2019-2024 period reveals an average annual fall of GDP of -1.9%, which implies a sustained contraction over six years. During that period, sectors such as the sugar industry (-25.4%), fishing (-15.4%), agriculture and livestock (-14.8%) or manufacturing (-9.9%) suffered an alarming accumulated decreases. Trade (-6.2%), public health (-2.9%), education (-2.8%) and science and innovation (-2.6%) were also contracted. In contrast, only five sectors experienced an average annual growth, although modest: transport and communications (7.6%), hotels and restaurants (3.2%), construction (1.3%), culture and sport (1.2%) and business and real estate services (1.1%). For De Miranda, this shows that “the people’s resources have been misused in a practically stagnant sector.”
In the words of the economist himself, the evolution of the Cuban economy in recent years resembles “the history of Benjamin Button”: a constant regression that compromises both the present and the future of the country.
