More than half of Cubans over the age of 15 neither work nor seek work, according to data published this Tuesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The figure, released in the 2024 National Employment Survey (ENO), places Cuba with one of the lowest employment rates in the region, at 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 data on people outside the labor force (those neither employed nor seeking employment) does not include unemployed Cubans because that figure includes unemployed people seeking to change their employment status.
In this case, the rate is 1.6%, one of the lowest in the region.
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Similarly, the document reveals that more than half of those employed are over 45 years old. The average age of those employed is 44.3 years.
Among those with jobs, almost 50% (48.8%) are between 45 and 64 years old. Meanwhile, 47.3% of unemployed Cubans are between 15 and 34 years old.
More than a quarter of the 9.7 million Cubans are 60 years old or older, according to ONEI, placing the country as one of the oldest in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Various NGOs, independent analysts, and, more recently, the government itself have warned of the lack of young labor due primarily to the migration of working-age Cubans and the aging of the population.
Furthermore, state salaries are currently below the cost of living. Between 2021 and 2024, the average real salary adjusted for inflation fell by 33.5%, according to estimates by Cuban expert Pedro Monreal, based on official data.
