8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Paraguay

About 1 in 966 people born in 2023 started life in Paraguay. A boy can expect to live 71 years and a girl 77, up from 56 and 61 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 966
odds of being born here
136,800 births · Ranked 98th of 230
71 / 77
years of life, boys / girls
Was 56 / 61 in 1950
$7,425
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 92nd of 203 · extrapolated
69%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 16 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 103 in every 1,000 births to 17.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth70.9 years for boys, 77.0 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 516.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year39,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles83%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.5%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year76 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.4.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.42UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 50 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
5%Poorest fifth
10%Second
14%Middle
21%Fourth
50%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,425 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth50% / 5% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.8% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming17% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed41% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment80% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Asunción, with 1.5 million people.

69%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Asunción1.5 million
Ciudad del Este301,815
San Lorenzo227,876
Capiatá198,553
Lambaré126,377
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Guarani80%
Spanish3%
German3%
Guarani, Spanish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Asuncion1.5 million
Central Department1.2 million
Alto Paraná Department356,107
Caaguazú Department144,988
Concepción79,413
Amambay Department75,109
Itapúa74,983
Presidente Hayes57,217
Cordillera Department56,864
Guairá41,157

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 14 regions
  • Asuncion1.5 million
  • Central Department1.2 million
  • Alto Paraná Department356,107
  • Caaguazú Department144,988
  • Concepción79,413
  • Amambay Department75,109
  • Itapúa74,983
  • Presidente Hayes57,217
  • Cordillera Department56,864
  • Guairá41,157
  • Boquerón Department36,387
  • Ñeembucú Department32,810
  • Caazapá23,996
  • Misiones Department16,593

People on the move

About 11% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Argentina, Spain, Brazil.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Argentina517,429
Spain144,878
Brazil53,941
Residents born abroad2.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 10.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostArgentina (517,429), Spain (144,878), Brazil (53,941)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.5 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

82% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

82%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202419,880Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence150 between 1989 and 1989UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Paraguay, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Paraguay

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences