• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 11 / 17 / 2010

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16:57, November 17, 2010. "In the short-term, the Cuban population will decrease substantially," the State National Statistics Office (NSO) said in an official report.

"The population entering the work force will be fewer in number than those in retirement, and the number of childbearing women will decrease due to the aging population," said the NSO.

The report stressed that the aging population "in 2009 reached 17.4 percent, equivalent to more than 2 million people over the age of 60."

The NSO said that this indicator "is and will remain the main demographic challenge" of the island.The official report added that in 2009 the Cuban population reached 11,242,628 people, 6,529 more than that in 2008, but "it would not reach 12 million, as expected."

The NSO also said that the fertility rate last year reached "the highest in the last 10 years (1.70), but it seems possible that under the present circumstances this number will not rise, and it is believed unlikely to remain at that level."

Cuba has a work force of 4.9 million people, a life expectancy of 77 years, and an infant mortality rate of 5.8 per 1,000 live births.

Source: Xinhua