Peru People - 2021

Population

32,201,224 (July 2021 est.)

Nationality

noun: Peruvian(s)

adjective: Peruvian

Ethnic groups

Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and White) 60.2%, Amerindian 25.8%, White 5.9%, African descent 3.6%, other (includes Chinese and Japanese descent) 1.2%, unspecified 3.3% (2017 est.)

Languages

Spanish (official) 82.9%, Quechua (official) 13.6%, Aymara (official) 1.6%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.8%, other (includes foreign languages and sign language) 0.2%, none 0.1%, unspecified 0.7% (2017 est.)

printed major-language sample:
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions

Roman Catholic 60%, Christian 14.6% (includes Evangelical 11.1%, other 3.5%), other 0.3%, none 4%, unspecified 21.1% (2017 est.)

Demographic profile

Peru's urban and coastal communities have benefited much more from recent economic growth than rural, Afro-Peruvian, indigenous, and poor populations of the Amazon and mountain regions. The poverty rate has dropped substantially during the last decade but remains stubbornly high at about 30% (more than 55% in rural areas). After remaining almost static for about a decade, Peru's malnutrition rate began falling in 2005, when the government introduced a coordinated strategy focusing on hygiene, sanitation, and clean water. School enrollment has improved, but achievement scores reflect ongoing problems with educational quality. Many poor children temporarily or permanently drop out of school to help support their families. About a quarter to a third of Peruvian children aged 6 to 14 work, often putting in long hours at hazardous mining or construction sites.

Peru was a country of immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has become a country of emigration in the last few decades. Beginning in the 19th century, Peru brought in Asian contract laborers mainly to work on coastal plantations. Populations of Chinese and Japanese descent - among the largest in Latin America - are economically and culturally influential in Peru today. Peruvian emigration began rising in the 1980s due to an economic crisis and a violent internal conflict, but outflows have stabilized in the last few years as economic conditions have improved. Nonetheless, more than 2 million Peruvians have emigrated in the last decade, principally to the US, Spain, and Argentina.

Age structure

0-14 years: 25.43% (male 4,131,985/female 3,984,546)

15-24 years: 17.21% (male 2,756,024/female 2,736,394)

25-54 years: 41.03% (male 6,279,595/female 6,815,159)

55-64 years: 8.28% (male 1,266,595/female 1,375,708)

65 years and over: 8.05% (male 1,207,707/female 1,361,276) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 50.2

youth dependency ratio: 37.1

elderly dependency ratio: 13.1

potential support ratio: 7.6 (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 29.1 years

male: 28.3 years

female: 29.9 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

0.88% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

16.67 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

6.09 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

-1.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Population distribution

approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated

Urbanization

urban population: 78.3% of total population (2020)

rate of urbanization: 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

10.883 million LIMA (capital), 935,000 Arequipa, 878,000 Trujillo (2021)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.92 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

21.9 years (2013 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality rate

88 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 19.37 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 22.02 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 16.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 74.96 years

male: 72.84 years

female: 77.19 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.02 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

76.3% (2018)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 95.6% of population

rural: 77.4% of population

total: 92.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 4.4% of population

rural: 22.6% of population

total: 7.9% of population (2017 est.)

Current Health Expenditure

5.2% (2018)

Physicians density

1.3 physicians/1,000 population (2016)

Hospital bed density

1.6 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 92.2% of population

rural: 60.8% of population

total: 85.2% of population

unimproved: urban: 7.8% of population

rural: 14.8% of population

total: 23.8% of population (2017 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.3% (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

91,000 (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Bartonellosis (Oroya fever)

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout Peru; as of 19 July 2021, Peru has reported a total of 2,093,754 cases of COVID-19 or 6,350.13 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 591.86 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 18 July 2021, 20.6% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

19.7% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

2.4% (2019)

Education expenditures

3.8% of GDP (2019)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 94.4%

male: 97.1%

female: 91.7% (2018)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 15 years

male: 14 years

female: 15 years (2017)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 7.3%

male: 6.9%

female: 7.9% (2019 est.)