Cuba: Operating a Business

Setting Up a Company

Sociedad con Responsabilidad Limitada: Number of partners: Minimum 2
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital amount required
Shareholders and liability: Limited to the shares
Sociedad Anónima (SA): Number of partners: Minimum 2
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital amount required
Shareholders and liability: Unlimited for managing partners, limited to their contributions for limited partners
Joint Venture Company: Number of partners: Minimum 1 national and 1 foreigner
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital amount required
Shareholders and liability: Limited to the shares
International Economic Association Contract (IEAC): Number of partners: Minimum 2 nationals and 1 foreigner
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital amount required
Shareholders and liability: Limited to the shares
Public Limited Company: Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital amount required
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to their investment

The Competent Organisation: The Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Co-operation, through the Evaluation and Project Investment management leadership (Direccion de Evaluacion y Gestion de Proyectos de Inversion, Investment Promotion Center) is in charge of negotiations with foreign partners.

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	5,103,449	5,092,603	4,790,239

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

Legal Weekly Duration: 8 hours per day and 44 hours per week
Retirement Age: 65 years for men, 60 years for women.
Working Contracts: Employment contracts are permanent, temporary or task specific.
The 1995 law on foreign investments requires that investors use the State employment agency to hire workers.

Minimum Wage: As of 1 January 2026, the minimum monthly wage is 2,100 Cuban Pesos (approx. USD 87), as established by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and published in the Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba.
Average Wage: The average monthly wage in Cuba is around 5,839 CUP (approx. 243 USD).
Social Contributions: Social Security Contributions Paid By Employers: Employer's contribution: 14%
Social Security Contributions Paid By Employees: Employee's contribution: 0%

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: The only legal union in Cuba is the Main Cuban Workers' Union (CTC) which is heavily dependent on the government. The workers are obliged to observer their colleagues and to report all "dissident" activity. The independent union activists are regularly subjected to detentions, harassment and threatened with trial. Despite everything, the existing organisations do not have the capacity to defend the workers in an efficient way. As they are not recognized, they cannot undertake collective negotiations or call for strikes.
Labour Unions: The Main Cuban Workers' Union (in Spanish)
Unionisation Rate: 96% of Cuban employees are affiliated to the Main Cuban Workers' Union (according to the CTC' own figures)
Labour Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Labor and Social Security
Cuba and Mexico International Labor Organization (Spanish only)

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