The 1992 census shows a resident population of 2,770, an increase of 43.1% (834) of the 1982 figure. Perhaps a third of this figure are temporary residents, being public servants and their families, who are employed in the armed forces and various public institutions. The remainder are native Rapanui and their spouses, some of whom were born on Mainland Chile, called "El Conti", or elsewhere. Several hundred Rapanui live off their island, mainly in other parts of Chile, but also in North America, Europe and notably about one hundred in Tahiti. 

Since the 1982 census, there has been a 100% increase in the number of houses on the island, from 530 to 1,065, due largely to Chilean government subsidised housing programmes.