Up to 2024 the Peruvian population reaches 34 million of inhabitants

In the year 2024, according to the projections of population, the country reached 34 million 39 thousand inhabitants, of which 16 million 876 thousand are men (49.6%) and 17 million 163 thousand are women (50.4%).

This was informed by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) in the document Situation of the Peruvian Population 2024: A glimpse of ethnic diversity, published on the occasion of World Population Day, which is commemorates in July 11.

Peru stands out as one of the countries with greater ethnic and linguistic diversity, hosting 55 indigenous peoples officially recognized. Of these 55 indigenous peoples, 51 belongs to the Amazon region and four belongs to the Andean region.

The cultural diversity refers to multiple expressions or cultural manifestations coming from the individual or collective creativity, and the interaction of many cultures.

Dance, music, gastronomy, popular art, traditional festivals, textiles, medicines, languages, traditional dress, are our main cultural manifestations.

27.0% of the population of 14 years old and older, self-identifies as indigenous, which includes Quechua, Aimara, native from the Amazon, belonging or part of other indigenous or native community; 6.6% afro-Peruvian, 4.6% white and 4.6% of other origin. Meanwhile, 51.3% consider themselves as mestizo.

According to the language learned in the childhood, 16.6% states they have as mother language an indigenous language (Quechua, Aimara, among others) and 83.0% have as mother language the Spanish language.

The average age of Peruvian population had kept for decades, between 23 and 24 years of age. Nevertheless, since 1993, started to increase, placing in 25.5 years of age and reaching 33.8 years of age in 2024, fact that makes clear the aging process which the country will go through.

Becomes important the age group between 15 to 59 years of age, that from representing 51.5% in 1940, in the year 2024 increases 62.1% (21 million 153 thousand persons). Likewise, the older adult population increases (60 years of age and older): from 6.4% in 1940 to 13.9% in the year 2024, which evidenced the aging process of the population; meanwhile that the population under 15 years of age decreased 42.1% in 1940 to 23.9% in the current year.

In absolute terms, a total of 4 million 748 thousand persons, that represented 13.9% of the population of the country, is older adult. It is a population that rapidly grows, reaching an average annual growth rate of 2.7%, with a growth rhythm highest than the population of younger ages.

In the year 2024, the population density of Peru is of 26.5 persons by Km², figure that increased significantly since the 1940 Census, when the density was of 5.5 inhabitants per Km². The population density, that measures the concentration of the population, has increased throughout the years, mainly by the demographic growth and the urbanization process.

Other aspect of importance is the degree of concentration of the population. According to the estimations and projections, 10 million 292 thousand 408 persons live in Lima Metropolitan area (30.2%), population that is five times of that of the department of Piura, the second most populated with 2 million 149 thousand 978 inhabitants equivalent to the sum of the population of the departments with greater population: Piura, La Libertad, Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco and Junín.

In the year 2024, it is estimated that 26 cities have more than 100 thousand inhabitants (60% of the total population). Four cities exceed the one million of inhabitants: Lima, Callao, Arequipa and Trujillo. The urbanization process introduced significative changes both in growth, density and distribution of the population, as well as in the physical expansion and the spatial behavior of the cities.

According to census of the year 1940, 64.6% of the Peruvian population resides in the rural area and 35.4% in the urban area. After 32 years of age, the population reverts its rurality and becomes to be mostly urban, as it was registered in the census of the year 1972 (59.5% of Peruvians life in urban area). According to the estimations and projections of population in force, in the year 2024, 83.1% of the population would be living in the urban area (28 million 286 thousand persons).

The changes in the distribution of the population by natural region are relatively recent. Up to the census of 1961, 52.3% is concentrated in the Highlands and 39.0% in the Coast.

The census of the year 2017 stated that 58.0% of the population was in the Coast and 28.1% was in the Highlands. In the year 2024, 59.7% of the population lives in the Coast of our country (20 million 322 thousand inhabitants).