Peruvian Population Reached 33 Million 396 Thousand Persons In The Year 2022

In the year 2022, Peruvian population reached 33 million 396 thousand 700 inhabitants, being more than doubled of the population registered in the year 1972, this was informed by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, presenting the results of the study: “Peru: 50 years of changes and demographic trends”, prepared in commemoration of the World Population Day, which is held in July 11 of each year. Added that in half century of many changes, sustained with statistics information, its dynamic is in permanent interaction with the economic, social, cultural variables, among others. This way, points out that population changes in the country shows heterogeneous trends, especially at Departments, Provinces and Districts level.

Peruvian population is experiencing deep demographic transformations. The structure of the population by age was been modified. In 1940, children under 15 years old constituted 42.1% of the population, proportion that remained until the year 1981 with 41.2%, which is evidence that the country had predominantly young population. During all this period become important the age group between 15 to 59 years old that represents the 51.5% in 1940, increases to 62.4% in the year 2022. Likewise, it increases the older adult population aged 60 years old and over, from 6.4% in 1940 to 13.3% in 2022, which expresses the progressive aging of population.

The average age of Peruvian population had increased, mainly in the last 28 years, which reflects the aging process for which is going through. In the year 1940 the average age was of 24 years old, remaining for four decades; just since the year 1993 starts to increase, until is placed in 33.4 years in 2022.

During 1940s, 64.6% of Peruvian population lived in rural area and 35.4% in urban area. After 32 years, Peruvian population reverts its rural situation and happens to be a majority urban population, as registered in the Census of the year 1972 that registered that 59.5% of Peruvian lived in urban area. The Census of 1981, pointed out that this proportion reached the 65.2% and in 1993 the 70.1%. Likewise, the last two census performed during the twenty-first century, confirms this trend, since that in the year 2007 the 75.9% of Peruvian population lived in urban zone and in 2017 the 82.4%. This urbanization process that characterizes Peruvian population, is due to internal migrations from countryside to the cities.

During 1940s, the Highlands region concentrated the 65.0% of the country’s population; meanwhile the Coast and the Jungle concentrated the 28.3% and 6.7% of the country’s population, respectively. The Census of 1961, revealed that the Highlands continues concentrating the 52.3% of the population, the Coast the 39.0% and the Jungle the 8.7%. Changes in the distribution of the population by natural regions are relatively new. The Census of the year 2017 stated that the 58.0% of the population was placed in the Coast and the 28.1% in the Highlands. Meanwhile the Jungle region presented a process of moderate population growth by going from 8.7% in 1961 to concentrate the 13.9% in the year 2017.

Since the four first decades of the twentieth century, happened significant changes in the population distribution, which were tagged by the increase of urban population mainly influenced by internal migration.

During the year 1940, in the country just in the city of Lima overcomes 100 thousand inhabitants. In 1961, four cities had this quantity of population and for the Census of the year 2017 were 23 the cities with that quantity of inhabitants, having at 54.0% of the population of the country. For the year 2022, it is estimated in 26 cities that have more than 100 thousand inhabitants, that are: que son: Lima, Callao, Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Chimbote, Iquitos, Piura, Huancayo, Cusco, Ica, Sullana, Tacna, Pucallpa, Juliaca, Huánuco, Chincha, Ayacucho, Huacho, Cajamarca, Puno, Tarapoto, Huaraz, Puerto Maldonado, Tumbes and Talara.

Peru, as all the countries of Latin America, experienced deep changes in the spatial distribution of the population during the twentieth century and during the first decades of twentieth century. The main mechanism that forged such changes was the internal migration and its effects “growth” and, specially, “redistribution”, hand in hand of the massive relocation of the rural population towards the cities, the emigration from Highlands to the Coast and the progressive and volatile occupation of the Jungle region, many times based in complex processes of formal and informal colonization. These changes in the space distribution of the population, due to internal migration, they related interactively with other structural transformations of the country in social, economic, cultural, and politic and ecosystem terms.

Interdepartmental internal migrations had been very dynamic since the middle of the last century, generation after generation; many Peruvians left their place of origin in searching of better possibilities in other Departments with higher economic potential. The Census of the year 1940 registered that the 8.9% of the population emigrated from its birth Department to other Department systematically increasing until 22.1% in the Census of the year 1993 and then decrease in the Census of 2007 where it reached a 19.5% of the registered population. Nevertheless, during the last Census of the year 2017 recovered reaching to 20.3%.

In a context of big socio-demographic changes, among them the greater urbanization and education of women, the decrease of fertility had been one of the most prominent. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) that is the same to the average number of children that a women could have at the end of its reproductive period decreases from 6.9 children in the year 1965 to 2.0 children by women in the year 2021. The Total Fertility Rate remained steady between the years 1950 to 1965, with a value of 6.9 children by women. Started its transition to lower levels in the period 1977-1978 reaching a level of 5.3 children by women. In 1986 placed in 4.1 and between the years 1991-1992 in 3.5 children by women.

During the last fifty years, Peru shows important socio-economic changes. The changes in the productive structure and in the social and educational basis show that one of the most distinctive features had been the growing incorporation of the women to the employment world. This incorporation brings deep transformations in different aspects, included changes in labor market, educational achievements, decrease of fertility rate, changes in family relations and progress in the access of decision making. Nevertheless, there are still goals and challenges to the full integration of the Peruvian women in labor market.

Four decades ago, just the 25.3% of women that had the age to developed an economic activity in the labor market, as of for the year 2021 increased to 63.0%; meanwhile that its peers men increased in 79.2% in 1981 and in 80.9% in the year 2021. The difference in the participation rate between men and women in the year 1981 was of 53.9 percentage points; in the year 2021 the gap was shortened to 17.9 percentage points.

During the last decades in Peru had been registered a sustained trend of general growth of attendance to school in all levels. In the period 1998-2021, school attendance rate increased in all educational level, outstanding in childhood early education that increased in 279 percentage points, by going from 47.3% to 75.2% in the year 2021 and high school education in 21.5 percentage points, from 62.0% to 83.5%. In elementary education grew the year 2021 in 0.2 percentage points from 91.1% to 91.3%.

During the last decades, it had increased the female-headed households. As of 2021, in Peru there were 9 million 904 thousand households, from these ones, the 35.9% are headed by women and the 64.1% are headed by men. During the last 25 years female-headed households ha being increasing. Therefore, from representing the 18.5% in the year 1997 passed to 35.9% in the year 2021.

Family structure of households according to sex of the household chief is diverse. Therefore, 62.5% of men-headed household and that have children; assume the mentioned responsibility with its partner or spouse. Meanwhile, 50.2% of female-headed household with no spouse or partner, with responsibility of children, managed the household alone.

Peru is one of the countries of Latin American region that had going through one of the most accelerated changes at family structure level: The evolution of the socio-demographic transformation, which showed the growth of free unions against marriage. In 1972, family structure clearly predominant were constituted by marriages, with a 37.6%, and live-in partner were just 14.0%. Nevertheless, in less than five decades, the scenario changed and the results of 2017 indicates a substantial variation: live-in partner is now the majority family structure representing the 26.7% and marriage the 25.7%.

The size of households in the country had decreased, due to the advancement of demographic transition that generated a reduction of number of children. In the year 2021, the average size of a Peruvian household was of 3.4 members; in the year 1997 was of 4.7 members.