Puerto Rico Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

soil erosion; occasional droughts cause water shortages; industrial pollution

Climate

tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation

Land use

agricultural land: 22% (2018 est.)

arable land: 6.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 5.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 9.8% (2018 est.)

forest: 63.2% (2018 est.)

other: 14.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 93.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: -0.12% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 4,170,953 tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 583,933 tons (2013 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 14% (2013 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 800 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 2.37 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 110 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

7.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)