Pew Research Center: Afro-Latinos are about 2% of U.S. adult population and 12% of Latino adults but almost one-in-seven do not identify as Hispanic or Latino

More than six million Americans identify as Afro-Latino, the Pew Research Center reveals.  The data, garnered from a survey of over 68,000 adults conducted in 2019 and 2020, paints an important picture of the complexities of racial and ethnic identity within the broader Latino community. 

Afro-Latinos — people of African descent who hail from Latin America or the Caribbean — make up 2% of the U.S. adult population and account for 12% of Latino adults, Pew said. 

Nearly 30% of those who self-identified as Afro-Latino also identified as white. One in seven did not identify as Hispanic. Such factors have made it immensely difficult for major studies like the U.S. Census to accurately estimate the size of the Afro-Latino population. 

Skin color-based discrimination 

In a related study conducted in March, Pew asked respondents about discrimination within the Latino community. Results showed that around a quarter of Latino adults say they’ve experienced discrimination or unfair treatment from other Latinos — something particularly true for respondents with darker skin or who were born outside the U.S.

The surveys show that Afro-Latinos are somewhat more likely to experience discrimination, particularly when it comes to being unfairly stopped by the police or being criticized for speaking Spanish.

See full Pew Research Center data on Afro-Latino demographics here and on discrimination here.