Cuba still does not have an official date for its upcoming Census of Population and Housing, despite the repeated announcements and delays that have accumulated since the count, originally scheduled for 2022, was suspended.
A report published by Radio 26, the official media of Matanzas, indicates that the process is still in the preparatory phase and that the National Statistical Office (ONEI) has not yet announced when the census will begin.
Currently, the Preliminary Registration remains in place, a phase in which social workers and hired personnel visit homes and facilities to determine, in the case of residences, the number of residents and the name of the head of the household, without requesting documents or entering the houses.
This phase actually began on May 19, 2025, as reported by the official press at that time.
After the preliminary registration, the schedule includes a rehearsal aimed at verifying the logistics and technological tools before the actual census begins.
The new operation also plans to use mobile devices with GPS to geo-reference the collected information, which is one of the main technological innovations of the process.
Delays have been accumulating for years. The last national census was conducted in 2012 and the next one was supposed to take place a decade later, in 2022, but it was postponed due to the pandemic and a lack of resources amid the economic crisis.
In April 2025, the authorities confirmed that the Population and Housing Census would take place that same year.
By then, the ONEI had already divided the process into three stages: Preliminary Registration, Census Trial, and Census Collection.
The promise was also not fulfilled. In November 2025, after conducting a census trial in Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque, the ONEI deemed the test a success and shifted the expectations for the national count to 2026.
The agency stated that the trial would allow for the development of a "more efficient and accurate" census.
The absence of an updated census is particularly significant amid the island's rapid demographic transformation.
According to official figures released by ONEI, Cuba ended 2025 with 9,434,593 inhabitants, after losing more than 313,000 residents in just one year.
In five years, the official population decreased by more than 1.6 million people.
The combination of emigration, aging, and low birth rates exacerbates the situation.
In 2025, around 68,000 births were recorded compared to over 134,000 deaths, resulting in a negative natural balance of over 66,000 people.
Furthermore, fertility also remains well below the generational replacement level.
Long-term prospects are also not favorable. The United Nations Population Fund has warned that Cuba could end the century with just 5.6 million inhabitants if current trends continue.
Related videos:
Filed under: