Ninety percent of Cuba's 11 million population lives in poverty.

Omissions

• The claim omits the qualifier 'extreme' — the OCDH study measures 'extreme poverty' (extrema pobreza), not general poverty.
• The MEP did not cite the source (the 2024 OCDH/ObservaCuba 8th Study on Social Rights), presenting the figure as an uncontested official fact.
• No mention is made of competing estimates: the UNDP MPI (0.7% multidimensional poverty), Columbia Law School (40–45% poverty), and other sources showing figures between 5% and 26%.
• Cuba's population is overstated: approximately 10.89 million (2026 projection) or 9.75 million (2024 census), not 11 million. The 11 million figure corresponds roughly to the 2012 census (11.2 million).
• The OCDH is a politically oriented advocacy organization based outside Cuba; its survey methodology relies on self-reported ability to afford basic needs rather than official statistical standards.
• Cuba does not publish official poverty statistics, making any single figure inherently contested and dependent on methodology.

Sources

• PrimaryUNDP Multidimensional Poverty Index 20250.7 percent of the population in Cuba (78 thousand people in 2023) is multidimensionally poor while an additional 2.7 percent is classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
• AcademicColumbia Law School — Cuba Capacity Building Project (Horizonte Cubano)Estimates show that around 40–45% of Cubans are living in poverty.
• SecondaryEl País (English edition)The report states that in 2024, 89% of the Cuban population will live in conditions of 'extreme poverty.' The study was prepared by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH).
• SecondaryObservaCuba / Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH)At least 89% of Cubans remain in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty in Cuba remains at 89%.
• SecondaryWorldometersCuba 2026 population is estimated at 10,892,659 people at mid-year.