8 Billion Lives
Be born

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

Born in Peru

About 1 in 245 people born in 2023 started life in Peru. A boy can expect to live 75 years and a girl 80, up from 45 and 48 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 245
odds of being born here
539,600 births · Ranked 51st of 230
75 / 80
years of life, boys / girls
Was 45 / 48 in 1950
$4,936
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 119th of 203 · extrapolated
85%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 32 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 275 in every 1,000 births to 15.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth75.4 years for boys, 80.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 514.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year186,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.7World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles84%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year149 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year2 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.9 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.0, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.98UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
6%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $4,936 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming24% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed51% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment111% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lima, with 7.7 million people.

85%
live in cities
96%
have electricity at home
95%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lima7.7 million
Callao1.2 million
Arequipa1.2 million
Trujillo1.1 million
Piura630,000
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish73%
Quechua15%
Aymara2%
Spanish, Quechua is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Lima Province7.7 million
Arequipa1.5 million
Piura1.4 million
La Libertad1.3 million
Callao1.3 million
Lima region1.0 million
Lambayeque842,867
Junin700,544
Cuzco Department659,546
Ica552,201

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

Large cities

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

All 26 regions
  • Lima Province7.7 million
  • Arequipa1.5 million
  • Piura1.4 million
  • La Libertad1.3 million
  • Callao1.3 million
  • Lima region1.0 million
  • Lambayeque842,867
  • Junin700,544
  • Cuzco Department659,546
  • Ica552,201
  • Loreto543,789
  • Ancash514,638
  • Puno509,287
  • Ucayali428,902
  • Tacna286,240
  • Huánuco Department272,979
  • Cajamarca Department253,822
  • San Martín Department199,779
  • Ayacucho158,660
  • Moquegua Department138,991
  • Madre de Dios123,990
  • Tumbes113,853
  • Pasco111,670
  • Apurímac Department89,721
  • Amazonas79,453
  • Huancavelica49,570

People on the move

About 4.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Spain, Chile.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States512,316
Spain352,470
Chile261,522
Residents born abroad5.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (512,316), Spain (352,470), Chile (261,522)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $5.3 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

54% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

54%
of older people receive a pension (2024)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2024)

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 2024220,975Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195058; the deadliest, in 1970, killed about 66,794 people (magnitude 7.9)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence7,638 between 1989 and 2010UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Peru

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

All countries

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