Cuba: People & Society
Literacy
male
99% (2019 est.)
female
96.3% (2019 est.)
total population
97.7% (2019 est.)
Languages
Languages
Spanish (official)
major-language sample(s)
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Christian 58.9%, folk religion 17.6%, Buddhist <1%, Hindu <1%, Jewish <1%, Muslim <1%, other <1%, none 23.2% (2020 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.01 male(s)/female
total population
0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.82 male(s)/female
Birth rate
7.78 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
11.42 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
41 years
total
46.2 years (2025 est.)
female
44.4 years
Population
male
4,950,615
total
10,059,519 (2025 est.)
female
5,108,904
Nationality
noun
Cuban(s)
adjective
Cuban
Tobacco use
male
24.7% (2025 est.)
total
16.7% (2025 est.)
female
9% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
77.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.19% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
16.3% (male 918,066/female 866,578)
15-64 years
66.5% (male 3,670,531/female 3,623,658)
65 years and over
17.2% (2024 est.) (male 852,910/female 1,034,295)
Ethnic groups
White 64.1%, Mulatto or mixed 26.6%, Black 9.3% (2012 est.)
People - note
the issue of illicit emigration persists; Cubans seek to leave the island for the United States using homemade rafts, human smugglers, direct flights, or counterfeit visas; additionally, Cubans access the US via non-maritime avenues, including direct flights to Miami and overland routes through the southwest border; the influx of Cubans migrating to the US increased following the announcement of the normalization of US-Cuban relations in late December 2014 but has declined since the termination of the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy on 12 January 2017
Child marriage
men married by age 18
5.9% (2019)
women married by age 15
4.8% (2019)
women married by age 18
29.4% (2019)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
50.2 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
22.6 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
3.6 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
27.6 (2025 est.)
Physician density
9.54 physicians/1,000 population (2021)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
13.8% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
21% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-2.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
4.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.49 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 91.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 94.7% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 95.5% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 8.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 5.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 4.5% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
8.4% of GDP (2022 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
17% national budget (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
4.5 deaths/1,000 live births
total
5.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
3.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
-0.6% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.72 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
significant population concentrations are located across the nation, with the largest clusters found in major towns and cities, especially in the capital, Havana
Life expectancy at birth
male
77.8 years
female
82.6 years
total population
80.1 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
35 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 95.7% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 97.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 98.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 4.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 2.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 1.6% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
1.77 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
4.7 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
2.69 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.149 million HAVANA (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
24.6% (2016)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
58.6% (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
2.4% (2019 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
13 years (2023 est.)
total
14 years (2023 est.)
female
15 years (2023 est.)