The population of Puerto Rico has been shaped by native American settlement, European colonization, especially under the Spanish Empire, slavery and economic migration. Demographic features of the population of Puerto Rico include population density, ethnicity, education of the populace, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population size and structure At the 2020 census Puerto Rico had a population of 3.3 million, down from 3.7 million in 2010. The highest population was reached around the year 2000, at 3.8 million, and has been decreasing since, due to low fertility and emigration.

Migration Sometime between 400 B.C. and A.D. 100, the Arawak group of Amerindians inhabited Puerto Rico. Around A.D. 600, the Arawaks no longer lived on the island, perhaps because they had integrated with another culture or perhaps because they had been killed by illness. By A.D. 1000, the indigenous Taíno inhabited the island. They called the island Borikén, which is popularly said to mean "land of the valiant one".

This is where the alternative name for Puerto Rico, Borinquen, comes from. Since the late 18th century Puerto Ricans have called themselves some variation of boricua, borincano and borinqueño to embrace their indigenous identity. In the 15th century, the Carib lived on nearby islands and periodically invaded Taíno villages.

Historical Immigration

The Spanish conquered the island, assuming government in 1508, colonized it, and assumed hegemony over the natives. The Taíno population dwindled due to disease, tribal warfare, and forced labor, so the Spanish began importing large numbers of slaves from Africa. Spanish men arrived on the island disproportionately to Spanish women. African and Taíno women would sometimes marry them, resulting in a mixed tri-racial ethnicity.

In the late 18th century, the number of African slaves began to dwindle on the island. The 1833 British ban on slavery resulted in slave raids on Puerto Rico. Many slaves also escaped to neighboring islands.

In the 19th century, large numbers of immigrants from Spain, and numerous Spaniards living in former Spanish colonies in South America, arrived in Puerto Rico (See Spanish immigration to Puerto Rico). Large numbers of Canary Islanders (Isleños) arrived in great numbers to the island. Their influence can be seen today in Puerto Rico's culture, cuisine and most notably in the variety of Spanish that is spoken in Puerto Rico.

Although the vast majority of settlers came from Spain, Catholics from France, Ireland, Corsica, Italy, Germany and other European countries were also granted land by Spain as one of the provisions of the Real Cédula de Gracias de 1815 (Royal Decree of Graces of 1815). These immigrants were allowed to settle on the island, with a certain amount of free land and enslaved persons granted to them. In return, they had to profess fealty to the Spanish Crown.

In the early 20th century Jews began to settle in Puerto Rico. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were European refugees fleeing German–occupied Europe in the late 1930s. Puerto Rico's economic boom of the 1950s attracted a considerable number of Jewish families from the U.S. mainland, who were joined after 1959 by an influx of Jewish emigres from Fidel Castro's Cuba.

The mass immigration that occurred during the 19th century helped the population grow from 155,000 in 1800, to almost 1,000,000 in 1900.

Modern Immigration Puerto Rico has continued to receive immigrants in the present-day, especially coming from neighboring countries. In the 2020 census, by ancestry or birth, there were 53,677 Dominicans, 11,701 Cubans, 5,628 Spaniards, 5,010 Colombians, 4,975 Mexicans, 3,131 Venezuelans, 1,366 Peruvians, and 1,331 Argentineans. People who self identified as Hispanic, Latino, Spanish, Spanish American, and Afro-Latino numbered 8,141 and may be of mixed-Hispanic background, and all other Latin American origin groups numbered 6,344.

In 2020, there were 29,913 English, 9,700 Italians, 6,307, Germans, 5,024 French, 4,561 Irish, 1,361 Portuguese, and 8,556 all other European-origin groups, a large portion is made up of white Americans of such ancestries. There were 8,417 African Americans, 2,873 Asian Indians, 2,462 Chinese, and all other groups numbering about 6,000.

Some illegal immigrants, particularly from Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Cuba use Puerto Rico as a temporary stop-over point to get to the US mainland. In 2020, non-hispanic people made up 1.1% of the population of Puerto Rico, the majority of which are made up of U.S. citizens especially White Americans, and to a lesser degree Black Americans. Some non-Puerto Rican Hispanics are U.S.-born. Ethnic Puerto Ricans numbered 3,139,035, representing 95.5% of Puerto Rico's population. Some Puerto Ricans engage in Circular migration.

Emigration

Emigration has been a major part of Puerto Rico's recent history. Starting in the post-World War II period waves of Puerto Ricans moved to the continental United States, particularly to New York City, Yonkers, Buffalo, Rochester New York; Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Camden, New Jersey.

Other destinations include Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Springfield, Massachusetts; Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut; Cleveland, Ohio; Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, Pennsylvania; and Chicago, Illinois. This continued even as Puerto Rico's economy improved and its birth rate declined.

Vital statistics Structure of the population

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 755 479 1 911 605 3 667 084 100 0–4 107 000 102 597 209 597 5.72 5–9 116 188 109 665 225 853 6.16 10–14 129 722 123 006 252 728 6.89 15–19 138 646 132 250 270 896 7.39 20–24 134 894 131 768 266 662 7.27 25–29 112 981 117 257 230 238 6.28 30–34 115 030 125 281 240 311 6.55 35–39 111 971 121 837 233 808 6.38 40–44 113 223 123 276 236 499 6.45 45–49 114 114 129 441 243 555 6.64 50–54 109 550 127 211 236 761 6.46 55–59 103 031 123 108 226 139 6.17 60–64 96 256 115 745 212 001 5.78 65–69 86 858 104 308 191 166 5.21 70–74 64 745 79 593 144 338 3.94 75–79 46 652 60 431 107 083 2.92 80–84 29 398 41 911 71 309 1.94 85+ 25 220 42 290 68 140 1.86Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 352 910 335 268 688 178 18.77 15–64 1 149 696 1 247 174 2 396 870 65.36 65+ 252 873 329 163 582 036 15.87

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 515 721 1 677 973 3 193 694 100 0–4 60 020 57 462 117 482 3.68 5–9 79 847 77 814 157 661 4.94 10–14 92 917 89 847 182 764 5.72 15–19 103 020 98 596 201 616 6.31 20–24 109 920 106 565 216 485 6.78 25–29 109 775 110 150 219 925 6.89 30–34 89 738 95 503 185 241 5.80 35–39 89 257 100 245 189 502 5.93 40–44 94 166 104 715 198 881 6.23 45–49 96 796 107 356 204 152 6.39 50–54 98 923 112 980 211 903 6.64 55–59 100 375 118 921 219 296 6.87 60–64 95 717 113 413 209 130 6.55 65-69 85 684 104 249 189 933 5.95 70-74 79 286 97 271 176 557 5.53 75-79 57 755 73 571 131 326 4.11 80-84 38 724 51 920 90 644 2.84 85+ 33 801 57 395 91 196 2.86Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 232 784 225 123 457 907 14.34 15–64 987 687 1 068 444 2 056 131 64.38 65+ 295 250 384 406 679 656 21.28