There has been no official population census of Cuba since the decennial count of 1953. The Castro government, which came to power in January 1959, has not seen fit to continue census-taking on decennial basis, which would have regularly called for an enumeration in 1963. Until 1958 Cuban government agencies, including the National Bank and the National Economic Council, published annual estimates, intending presumably to adjust them in accordance with what would have been a census in 1963. The revolutionary government has continued annual estimates, but until recently, made no official announcement of them. In 1967, for the first time, the year-by-year estimates became available in official statistical publications.

Much interest has been associated with the population trends by students of Cuba because of a number of factors which presumably would affect them, notably the extraordinary emigration from the island. There have been attempts to arrive at estimates independently.