World Factbook
Peru
República del Perú
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
97% (2024 est.)
female
90.7% (2024 est.)
total population
93.7% (2024 est.)
Languages
Languages
Spanish (official) 82.9%, Quechua (official) 13.6%, Aymara (official) 1.6%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes many minor Amazonian languages) 0.8%, other 0.2%, none 0.1%, unspecified 0.7% (2017 est.)
major-language sample(s)
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Catholic 76%, Evangelical Christian 15.7%, no religion 5.1%, other religions 3.2% (2017 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.96 male(s)/female
total population
0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.75 male(s)/female
Birth rate
16.43 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
9.79 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
29.1 years
total
30.4 years (2025 est.)
female
31.3 years
Population
male
16,016,448
total
32,768,614 (2025 est.)
female
16,752,166
Nationality
noun
Peruvian(s)
adjective
Peruvian
Tobacco use
male
9.5% (2025 est.)
total
5.7% (2025 est.)
female
2.1% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
78.9% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
25.8% (male 4,293,229/female 4,119,269)
15-64 years
66.2% (male 10,546,502/female 11,041,106)
65 years and over
8% (2024 est.) (male 1,112,825/female 1,487,318)
Ethnic groups
Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and White) 60.2%, Indigenous 25.8%, White 5.9%, African descent 3.6%, other (includes Chinese and Japanese descent) 1.2%, unspecified 3.3% (2017 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15
2% (2020)
women married by age 18
14.1% (2020)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
50.4 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
38.4 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
8.3 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
12 (2025 est.)
Physician density
1.69 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
6.2% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
16.7% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-1.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
1.6 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.12 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 84.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 94.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 97.5% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 15.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 5.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 2.5% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
4.2% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
19.2% national budget (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
11.9 deaths/1,000 live births
total
10.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
9.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.55% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.04 (2025 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, contain roughly half of the population; the eastern slopes of the Andes and adjoining rainforest are sparsely populated
Life expectancy at birth
male
65.4 years
female
72.7 years
total population
68.9 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
51 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 65.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 88.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 94.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 34.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 11.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 5.9% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
3.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
5.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
11.204 million LIMA (capital), 959,000 Arequipa, 904,000 Trujillo (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
19.7% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
21.9 years (2013 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
52.7% (2022 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
2.7% (2023 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
15 years (2017 est.)
total
15 years (2017 est.)
female
15 years (2017 est.)