Puerto Rico now counts 374,260 informal caregivers, up by 100,000 since 2023, according to Eric Rivera Colón, director of the Department of the Family's Division of Integral Health and Community Well-being.^[1] That is who is doing the work at home, without pay, for family and neighbors who cannot manage alone. The figure is new, and it is large: a jump of 100,000 people in roughly two years. A profile of who those caregivers are emerged alongside the count: 59.6% are women,^[2] 47% manage three or more chronic illnesses of their own,^[3] 37.8% spend 40 or more hours a week on care,^[4] and 30.5% earn under $20,000 a year.^[5] AARP's 2025 Puerto Rico caregiving survey sketches the load the same way: many hold jobs while providing the care,^[6] and caregivers report stress and financial hardship alongside a widespread view that government does not support family caregivers enough.^[7][8] It lands against an island that keeps shrinking. Census estimates show Puerto Rico's population declined in 2023 and again in 2025, leaving it about 97,000 fewer residents than in 2020.^[9] A caregiver count that climbs while the population falls points to a heavier load carried by fewer hands.^[10] Update - Nov 11, 2026, 8:05 ASTThe 2025 'Perfil de Cuidadores Informales en Puerto Rico' report behind these figures was produced by the Department of Health's Healthy Aging section.^[11] Within it, caregivers' own health runs heavy: 52.6% have high blood pressure, 45.5% have elevated cholesterol, and 34.3% have joint diseases such as arthritis, gout, lupus or fibromyalgia.^[12][13][14]