Paraguay's population is distributed unevenly through the country. The vast majority of the people live in the eastern region, most within 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: Italians (around 40% of the total Paraguayan population is of full or partial Italian descent); Germans (the majority are Mennonites) with long-time Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner (President, 1954–1989) himself of German ancestry; 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 National Institute of Statistics of Paraguay, based on the 2022 census, the total population was 6,460,159 in 2026, compared to only 1,473,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2025 was 25%, 66.4% was between 15 and 64 years of age, while 8.6% was 65 years or older.

Year Total population(1000) Population percentage in age bracket 0–14 15–64 65+ 1950 1 473 1955 1 674 1960 1 906 1965 2 176 1970 2 483 1975 2 802 1980 3 195 1985 3 698 1990 4 244 1995 4 795 2000 5 155 2005 5 467 2010 5 668 2015 5 912 2020 6 202 2025 6 417 2030 6 618

Vital statistics

Registered births and deaths Births and deaths according to the National Institute of Statistics of Paraguay, based on the 2022 census.

Year Population Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase Annual migration Total increase Total fertility rate 2006 5,511,383 119,776 31,293 88,483 21.7 5.7 16.0 −46,796 41,687 2.84 2007 5,551,108 117,679 31,698 85,981 21.2 5.7 15.5 −48,210 37,771 2.75 2008 5,588,470 115,997 32,124 83,873 20.8 5.7 15.1 −46,913 36,960 2.67 2009 5,627,047 114,895 32,574 82,321 20.4 5.8 14.6 −42,118 40,203 2.60 2010 5,668,042 114,460 33,062 81,398 20.2 5.8 14.4 −39,613 41,785 2.55 2011 5,710,913 114,693 33,582 81,111 20.1 5.9 14.2 −37,109 44,002 2.52 2012 5,756,397 115,689 34,134 81,555 20.1 5.9 14.2 −34,605 46,950 2.50 2013 5,805,006 117,095 34,708 82,387 20.2 6.0 14.2 −32,101 50,286 2.50 2014 5,856,972 118,638 35,354 83,284 20.3 6.0 14.3 −29,597 53,687 2.50 2015 5,912,082 119,627 36,009 83,618 20.2 6.1 14.1 −27,093 56,525 2.50 2016 5,969,497 119,508 36,657 82,851 20.0 6.1 13.9 −24,589 58,262 2.47 2017 6,028,083 118,278 37,276 81,002 19.6 6.2 13.4 −22,084 58,918 2.43 2018 6,086,887 116,073 37,840 78,233 19.1 6.2 12.9 −19,580 58,653 2.36 2019 6,144,832 113,041 38,690 74,351 18.4 6.3 12.1 −17,076 57,275 2.28 2020 6,202,478 109,451 43,179 66,272 17.6 7.0 10.6 −8,226 58,046 2.19 2021 6,247,916 105,422 64,274 41,148 16.9 10.3 6.6 −8,226 32,922 2.10 2022 6,284,020 100,984 45,995 54,989 16.1 7.3 8.8 −15,555 39,434 2.00 2023 6,326,825 100,271 38,567 61,704 15.8 6.1 9.7 −15,269 46,435 1.97 2024 6,372,623 99,346 39,225 60,121 15.6 6.2 9.4 −14,995 45,126 1.95 2025 6,417,076 98,388 39,904 58,484 15.3 6.2 9.1 −14,712 43,772 1.92 2026 6,460,159

Fertility Total Fertility Rate (Wanted Fertility Rate): Year TFR (Total) 1990 4.6 1995 4.0 2000 3.57 2005 2.94 2010 2.55 2015 2.50 2020 2.19 2025 1.92 2030 1.84 2035 1.79 2040 1.75 2045 1.73 2050 1.72

Ethnic groups and languages

Religion

References

External links – Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática