# Demographics of Paraguay

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Paraguay's population is distributed unevenly through the country. The vast majority of the people live in the eastern region, most within 160 kilometres (99 mi) of Asunción, the capital and largest city, which borders on Argentina to the south and west. The Gran Chaco in the north-west, which accounts for about 60% of Paraguayan territory, is home to less than 4% of the population.
Ethnically, culturally, and socially, Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America. About 75% of the people are mestizo (mixed Spanish and Guaraní Native American descent), 20% are Whites, and the rest are small minorities of Indigenous or Afro Paraguayan origin. Little trace is left of the original Guaraní culture except the language, which is spoken by 90% of the population. About 75% of all Paraguayans also speak Spanish. Guaraní and Spanish are official languages.
Paraguay has a history of foreign settlement, especially in the 20th century: Germans (the majority are Mennonites) with long-time Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner (President, 1954–1989) himself of German ancestry; Italians (around 40% of the total Paraguayan population is of full or partial Italian descent); Japanese with Okinawans; Koreans; Chinese; Arabs, Ukrainians; Poles; Southern Europeans; Jews; Brazilians; and Argentines are among those who have settled in Paraguay. There are also an estimated 234,000 Afro-Paraguayans, or 4% of the population.
European and Middle Eastern immigrants began making their way to Paraguay in the decades following the Paraguayan War of 1864–1870 (from 1870 onward). Only 28,000 men and 200,000 women had survived the war, the reason why Paraguay had since then a high rate of illegitimate births. The government pursued a pro-immigration policy in an effort to increase population. Government records indicated that approximately 12,000 immigrants entered the port of Asunción between 1882 and 1907, of whom almost 9,000 came from Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. Migrants also arrived from neighboring Spanish American countries, especially Argentina. The immigrant ethnic groups kept their cultures and languages to some extent, especially Brazilians – known as "Brasiguayos".
Official records gave an imprecise sense of the number of Brazilians who came to the country. According to the 1982 census, 99,000 Brazilians resided in Paraguay. Most analysts discounted this figure, however, and contended that between 300,000 and 350,000 Brazilians lived in the eastern border region.
Analysts also rejected government figures on the number of immigrants from South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The 1982 census reported that there were 2,700 Koreans in Paraguay, along with another 1,100 non-Japanese or non-Korean Asian immigrants. Virtually all Koreans and Chinese lived in Ciudad del Este or Asunción and played a major role in the importation and sale of electronic goods manufactured in Asia.
Paraguay became the site of radical and progressive colonies inspired by political thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A group of radical socialist Australians in the 1890s voluntarily went to create a failed master-planned community, known as Nueva (New) Australia (1893 -1897); and Elisabeth Nietzsche, a German racial ideologist and sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche came to Paraguay in her attempt to build a colony, Nueva Germania (Neues Deutschland) (founded 1886) devoted to a hypothetical pure white "Nordic" society.
A 2022 census found that Paraguay's population shrank as a production of migration and having smaller families, as well as better data integrity, resulting in a loss of over one million.

## Population size and structure

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 6,703,799 in 2021, compared to only 1,473,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 33.5%, 61.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.1% was 65 years or older .
| Year | Total population ( × 1000) | Population percentage in age bracket | Population percentage in age bracket | Population percentage in age bracket |
| Year | Total population ( × 1000) | 0–14 | 15–64 | 65+ |
| 1950 | 1 473 | 47.0% | 50.1% | 2.9% |
| 1955 | 1 674 | 47.5% | 49.5% | 3.0% |
| 1960 | 1 906 | 47.8% | 49.0% | 3.2% |
| 1965 | 2 176 | 47.5% | 49.2% | 3.3% |
| 1970 | 2 483 | 46.1% | 50.4% | 3.5% |
| 1975 | 2 802 | 44.1% | 52.3% | 3.6% |
| 1980 | 3 195 | 42.5% | 53.8% | 3.8% |
| 1985 | 3 698 | 41.6% | 54.5% | 3.9% |
| 1990 | 4 244 | 41.4% | 54.6% | 4.0% |
| 1995 | 4 795 | 40.3% | 55.4% | 4.3% |
| 2000 | 5 323 | 38.5% | 57.2% | 4.4% |
| 2005 | 5 824 | 35.5% | 59.8% | 4.7% |
| 2010 | 6 248 | 32.9% | 61.8% | 5.2% |
| 2015 | 6 689 | 30.4% | 63.7% | 5.9% |
| 2020 | 7 133 | 28.9% | 64.3% | 6.8% |

### Structure of the population

| Age Group | Male | Female | Total | % |
| Total | 3 426 508 | 3 356 867 | 6 783 374 | 100 |
| 0–4 | 377 989 | 363 561 | 741 550 | 10.93 |
| 5–9 | 372 142 | 358 751 | 730 893 | 10.77 |
| 10–14 | 364 020 | 351 350 | 715 369 | 10.55 |
| 15–19 | 351 038 | 339 645 | 690 683 | 10.18 |
| 20–24 | 331 748 | 322 813 | 654 561 | 9.65 |
| 25–29 | 303 291 | 297 128 | 600 419 | 8.85 |
| 30–34 | 257 335 | 252 770 | 510 104 | 7.52 |
| 35–39 | 203 351 | 200 858 | 404 209 | 5.96 |
| 40–44 | 173 976 | 173 202 | 347 177 | 5.12 |
| 45–49 | 160 044 | 158 383 | 318 427 | 4.69 |
| 50–54 | 140 818 | 137 891 | 278 709 | 4.11 |
| 55–59 | 120 438 | 116 493 | 236 931 | 3.49 |
| 60–64 | 95 424 | 92 423 | 187 848 | 2.77 |
| 65–69 | 67 623 | 67 777 | 135 401 | 2.00 |
| 70–74 | 47 778 | 50 653 | 98 431 | 1.45 |
| 75–79 | 31 694 | 36 085 | 67 779 | 1.00 |
| 80+ | 27 800 | 37 082 | 64 882 | 0.96 |
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | Percent |
| 0–14 | 1 114 151 | 1 073 662 | 2 187 813 | 32.25 |
| 15–64 | 2 312 357 | 2 091 608 | 4 403 965 | 64.92 |
| 65+ | 174 895 | 191 597 | 366 492 | 5.40 |
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total | % |
| Total | 3 702 281 | 3 650 758 | 7 353 038 | 100 |
| 0–4 | 360 793 | 346 324 | 707 118 | 9.62 |
| 5–9 | 357 301 | 343 724 | 701 025 | 9.53 |
| 10–14 | 352 757 | 340 126 | 692 883 | 9.42 |
| 15–19 | 344 522 | 332 510 | 677 032 | 9.21 |
| 20–24 | 334 496 | 322 993 | 657 489 | 8.94 |
| 25–29 | 318 925 | 309 559 | 628 484 | 8.55 |
| 30–34 | 300 116 | 293 132 | 593 247 | 8.07 |
| 35–39 | 266 102 | 262 734 | 528 836 | 7.19 |
| 40–44 | 214 813 | 217 042 | 431 855 | 5.87 |
| 45–49 | 185 967 | 188 348 | 374 315 | 5.09 |
| 50–54 | 164 693 | 166 184 | 330 877 | 4.50 |
| 55–59 | 141 237 | 142 195 | 283 432 | 3.85 |
| 60–64 | 120 322 | 119 145 | 239 467 | 3.26 |
| 65–69 | 94 450 | 94 556 | 189 006 | 2.57 |
| 70–74 | 63 855 | 66 647 | 130 502 | 1.77 |
| 75–79 | 41 070 | 46 120 | 87 191 | 1.19 |
| 80+ | 40 863 | 59 417 | 100 280 | 1.36 |
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | Percent |
| 0–14 | 1 070 851 | 1 030 174 | 2 101 025 | 28.57 |
| 15–64 | 2 391 192 | 2 353 844 | 4 745 036 | 64.53 |
| 65+ | 240 238 | 266 740 | 506 978 | 6.89 |

## Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Paraguay are not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
| Period | per year | per year | per year | per 1000 | per 1000 | per 1000 | total fertility rate (number of children per woman) | infant mortality rate per 1000 births | Life expectancy | Life expectancy | Life expectancy |
| Period | live births | deaths | natural change | crude birth rate | crude death rate | natural change | total fertility rate (number of children per woman) | infant mortality rate per 1000 births | total | males | females |
| 1950–1955 | 70,000 | 14,000 | 56,000 | 44.3 | 8.9 | 35.4 | 6.50 | 73 | 62.6 | 60.5 | 64.6 |
| 1955–1960 | 76,000 | 15,000 | 61,000 | 42.7 | 8.6 | 34.1 | 6.50 | 70 | 63.2 | 61.1 | 65.1 |
| 1960–1965 | 84,000 | 16,000 | 68,000 | 41.3 | 8.0 | 33.3 | 6.45 | 62 | 64.3 | 62.3 | 66.3 |
| 1965–1970 | 92,000 | 18,000 | 74,000 | 39.5 | 7.6 | 31.8 | 6.15 | 59 | 65.0 | 63.0 | 66.9 |
| 1970–1975 | 94,000 | 19,000 | 75,000 | 35.6 | 7.1 | 28.6 | 5.35 | 53 | 65.9 | 63.7 | 68.0 |
| 1975–1980 | 108,000 | 21,000 | 87,000 | 36.1 | 6.9 | 29.2 | 5.20 | 51 | 66.5 | 64.3 | 68.7 |
| 1980–1985 | 129,000 | 24,000 | 105,000 | 37.3 | 6.8 | 30.4 | 5.20 | 49 | 67.0 | 64.9 | 69.3 |
| 1985–1990 | 139,000 | 26,000 | 113,000 | 34.9 | 6.6 | 28.3 | 4.77 | 47 | 67.6 | 65.4 | 69.9 |
| 1990–1995 | 145,000 | 28,000 | 117,000 | 32.0 | 6.2 | 25.8 | 4.31 | 43 | 68.5 | 66.3 | 70.8 |
| 1995–2000 | 148,000 | 30,000 | 118,000 | 29.3 | 5.9 | 23.3 | 3.88 | 39 | 69.4 | 67.2 | 71.7 |
| 2000–2005 | 151,000 | 32,000 | 119,000 | 25.1 | 5.4 | 19.7 | 3.24 | 36 | 70.7 | 68.7 | 72.9 |
| 2005–2010 | 153,000 | 34,000 | 119,000 | 23.4 | 5.4 | 18.0 | 2.89 | 32 | 71.7 | 69.7 | 73.9 |
| 2010–2015 | 161,000 | 38,000 | 123,000 | 21.7 | 5.4 | 16.3 | 2.60 | 30 | 72.2 | 70.0 | 74.5 |
| 2015–2020 | 165,000 | 43,000 | 122,000 | 20.7 | 5.5 | 15.2 | 2.45 | 28 | 72.7 | 70.4 | 75.1 |
| 2020–2025 | | | | 19.4 | 5.7 | 13.7 | 1.95 | | | | |
| 2025–2030 | | | | 18.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 1.84 | | | | |

### Registered births and deaths

Note that the numbers of births and deaths below are considered incomplete by the UN and by year of registration rather than by year of occurrence.
| Year of registration | Population | Live births | Deaths | Natural increase | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Rate of natural increase | TFR |
| 2009 | 6,168,757 | 103,309 | 18,758 | 84,551 | 16.7 | 3.0 | 13.7 | |
| 2010 | 6,265,877 | 100,584 | 21,281 | 79,303 | 16.1 | 3.4 | 12.7 | |
| 2011 | 6,363,276 | 111,945 | 22,652 | 89,293 | 17.6 | 3.6 | 14.0 | |
| 2012 | 6,461,041 | 118,549 | 22,807 | 95,752 | 18.3 | 3.5 | 14.8 | |
| 2013 | 6,559,027 | 114,619 | 24,193 | 90,426 | 17.5 | 3.7 | 13.8 | |
| 2014 | 6,657,232 | 116,592 | 22,625 | 93,967 | 17.5 | 3.4 | 14.1 | |
| 2015 | 6,755,756 | 132,241 | 24,885 | 107,356 | 19.6 | 3.7 | 15.9 | |
| 2016 | 6,854,536 | 128,117 | 27,243 | 100,874 | 18.7 | 4.0 | 14.7 | |
| 2017 | 6,953,646 | 129,903 | 26,404 | 103,499 | 18.7 | 3.8 | 14.9 | |
| 2018 | 7,052,983 | 123,187 | 29,139 | 94,048 | 17.5 | 4.1 | 13.4 | |
| 2019 | 7,152,703 | 117,347 | 32,362 | 84,985 | 16.4 | 4.5 | 11.9 | |
| 2020 | 7,252,672 | 95,649 | 36,466 | 59,183 | 13.2 | 5.0 | 8.2 | 2.41 |
| 2021 | 7,353,038 | 112,966 | 50,898 | 63,314 | 15.4 | 6.9 | 8.5 | |
| 2022 (ca) | 6,284,020 | 111,992 | 38,356 | 73,636 | 17.8 | 6.1 | 11.7 | |
| 2023 | 6,326,825 | | 37,570 | | | 5.9 | | |
| 2024 | 6,372,623 | | | | | | | 1.95 |
(ca) = 2022 census adjusted population.

#### Current vital statistics

| Period | Deaths |
| January–August 2023 | 26,299 |
| January–August 2024 | 25,804 |
| Difference | -495 (-1.88%) |

### Demographic and Health Surveys

Total Fertility Rate (Wanted Fertility Rate):
| Year | TFR (Total) |
| 1990 | 4.6 |
| 1995 | 4.0 |
| 2000 | 3.7 |
| 2005 | 2.9 |
| 2010 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | 1.95 |
| 2030 | 1.84 |
| 2035 | 1.79 |
| 2040 | 1.75 |
| 2045 | 1.73 |
| 2050 | 1.72 |

## Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups of Paraguay :
| Ethnic groups | Ethnic groups | percent | percent |
| Mestizo | Mestizo | 75% | 75% |
| White | White | 20% | 20% |
| Afro-Paraguayans | Afro-Paraguayans | 0.13% | 0.13% |
| Indigenous | Indigenous | 1.7% | 1.7% |
   The Paraguay's predominant ancestry is European, which represents a large part of the population, mainly descendants of Spaniards and Italians (who have contributed to repopulating the country after the Triple Alliance War) but there are also a large number of people of German ancestry, due to the German Mennonites (majority in the western part of the territory). There are 17 Mennonite colonies, only in the Paraguayan Chaco. It is one of the Latin American countries with the least indigenous traits (due to the fact that the traditional Paraguayan population; the Spanish mixture of Guaraní, had been annihilated by the war in 1870, which is why the country had to repopulate by resorting to immigration, especially the Italian in that country.) Taking into account the high fertility, Paraguay registers a majority young population structure. Of every ten people, four are under the age of 15 (2,339,000) and the population aged 15 to 29 represents a quarter of the total population. According to the Census (ECLAC, 1998), the population of indigenous nature that year was 29,482 people, that is, about 0.7% of the national population. There is a low percentage of people with distinctively Amerindian features and the absence of people with African features. The majority of the population is made up of mestizos who are descendants of the original population, the Guarani, and Europeans.

## Religion

Religions of Paraguay :
| Religions | Religions | percent | percent |
| Roman Catholic | Roman Catholic | 89.6% | 89.6% |
| Protestant | Protestant | 6.2% | 6.2% |
| Other or Unspecified | Other or Unspecified | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| Other Christian | Other Christian | 1.1% | 1.1% |
| None | None | 1.1% | 1.1% |

## Languages

Languages of Paraguay :
| Languages | Languages | percent | percent |
| Guaraní | Guaraní | 90% | 90% |
| Spanish | Spanish | 87% | 87% |