Havana/Of the most alarming figures provided this Thursday in the plenary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) concern health and demographics. According to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, 2025 will close with an infant mortality rate of 9.7 per 1,000 live births, compared to the 7.1 recorded the previous year.
The data confirm the trend that was already observed in the middle of the year, when the infant mortality rate increased to 8.2 per 1,000 births, almost one point above what was recorded in the same period of 2024. By then, the arbovirus epidemic – chikungunya and dengue – that is claiming the majority of fatalities among the under 18 years old.
Marrero did not offer figures on the maternal mortality rate recorded this year, but, according to figures from last July, it is also a black point. The Ministry of Public Health then indicated that it rose to no less than 56.3 per 100,000 live births – with 16 deaths reported – compared to 37.4 the previous year.
Very far away is the time when the infant mortality rate was an example for the region, even below 4 per 1,000 live births, the best figure in the entire American continent.
Marrero explained that the projection for the next 25 years is for it to continue decreasing to 7.7 million
Regarding the total population, the head of the Government announced that it will fall again. At the end of 2024, there were 9.7 million inhabitants and now, about 9.6 million, and it will get worse: Marrero explained that the projection for the next 25 years is for it to continue decreasing to 7.7 million.
The aging trend is predicted in the same way, with an increase in the population over 60 years of age, from the current 25.7% to 36.4% by 2050.
The indicators maintain the Island as one of the oldest countries in the region. The Cuban population has decreased, due to migration and the annual persistence of a greater number of deaths than births, according to official data.
Marrero presented to the Cuban deputies, almost all affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), a detailed report on the government program designed in response to the serious crisis that the country is going through.
Within the social area objectives included in this plan, Marrero admitted that the housing construction plan “is not being met” due to “the low production of construction materials” and the “deficit of cement and steel.”
In this sense, he called for transforming maritime transport containers into homes as a “viable alternative for this social problem.”
Cuba remains mired in a “complex scenario” marked by economic difficulties and an energy crisis – without a long-term solution – to which is now added the health crisis, derived from the current chikungunya and dengue epidemic.
