Demography, Cuba, and a Dark Destiny
Socialism has devastated Cuba to such an extent that it may well be unable to recover from within. The greatest hope lies with the exile community — those Cubans who left behind statism and a lack of freedom, and who have learned to build lives aligned with the rule of law and the Christian ethos.
Industrialization plans, the collectivization of land, the absence of economic and civil liberties, the rejection of tradition and marriage, the push of the feminism that rose to power alongside the Socialist Revolution, and the dehumanization of the unborn child — all these factors conspire to cause a significant decline in Cuba’s population, which stood at 11 million at the end of the last century.
Juan Carlos Alfonso Fraga, deputy head of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), and Diego Enrique González Galbán, director of ONEI’s Center for Population and Development Studies, stated that Cuba’s population stood at 9,434,593 at the close of 2025 — a decrease of 313,414 inhabitants compared to 2024.
In short: the island lost more than 3% of its population in just 12 months. Cuba is not only a country with a murderous system but also a suicidal one, compromising the nation’s future. Demography is destiny, and the island’s outlook is bleak.
The ONEI study highlighted an aging population rate of 26.7%, a figure that continues to rank Cuba as the country with the oldest population in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Furthermore, the number of births hit a multi-decade low of just 68,064, while the total number of deaths nearly doubled the number of births, reaching 136,214. The Total Fertility Rate stood at 1.29 children per woman, the lowest figure recorded in the historical series since 1958.
My personal experience mirrors that of many young Cubans. I used to hear female friends and family members say they would not give birth on the island due to the abysmal living conditions into which socialism had plunged the country. For many, leaving Cuba and building a life elsewhere was a prerequisite for having children.
The destination did not matter. While the United States and Mexico (due to geographic proximity) or Spain (due to cultural ties) have been the primary destinations for Cuban exiles, other places where language or customs might pose a barrier are also chosen.
In Brazil, between January and June 2026, a total of 20,372 Cubans applied for asylum, according to data published by the International Migration Observatory. This represents an increase compared to the same period the previous year. Cubans accounted for nearly 60% of all formal applications filed nationwide.
Equatorial Guinea, on the other side of the Atlantic, has also seen its Cuban community grow in recent years. Although the fact that it is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa offers an advantage, the customs and laws are foreign to those born in the Americas.
It is primarily young people who head to these destinations — the very ones who could get the country’s infrastructure running and potentially drive generational renewal. Yet, few wish to live in the socialist “paradise.” They prefer to venture into inhospitable jungles like the Darién Gap or set out in makeshift boats across the shark-infested waters of the Florida Straits.
At the same time, Cuba promotes a culture of death that ranges from its national slogans (such as Fidel Castro’s uncompromising “Homeland or Death”) to the adoption of globalist, anti-family policies. It is estimated that the country currently has the highest abortion rate in the Americas, with abortions accounting for nearly 50% of all pregnancies.
Even the very regime that opened the door to “abortion on demand” has had to acknowledge this as a problem.
The “Cuba Salud 2022” International Convention included a presentation recognizing so-called “voluntary pregnancy terminations” as “an issue that must be resolved immediately before its effects lead to greater consequences for the population.” It is a problem evident across almost the entire island.
The wound of population decline has prompted proposed solutions — such as waves of migration intended to address the domestic labor shortage — that often come at the expense of national culture and traditions.
Only freedom for Cuba could create an environment where the nation prospers both demographically and economically. Yet, reaffirming our tradition as a Christian nation would be key to ceasing to view the individual merely as a statistic — someone whose life can be taken away in a prison or a clinic in the name of revolutionary ideas.