Paraguay

South AmericaCapital city: AsuncionCapital metro: AsuncionPresident: Santiago Peña Palacios
2026 population
6.1M
Rank #115 globally
Area
407k km² (157k sq mi)
Metros tracked
7
60% of population in metros
Composite score
8.0
Rank #110 globally

population: 2022 census (9 Nov 2022) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 7 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography7 metros

Paraguay metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
7 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 7 tracked metros
7 metros
#342Asuncion★ Capital▲ Largest
Asunción · Central · 2.7M · Established Metro
7.7
Alto Paraná · 489K · Local Metro
0.4
Amambay · 122K · Local Metro
0.3
Itapúa · 197K · Local Metro
0.1
Guairá · 74K · Local Metro
0.0
San Pedro · 57K · Local Metro
0.0
Alto Paraná · 23K · Local Metro
0.0
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions

18 entries listed under Paraguay across 2 types. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

18 total

Capital Districts (1)

📋 At a glance
Official languages
Spanish, Guarani
Legislature
Congress of Paraguay
Demonym
Paraguayan
Time zones
UTC−03:00, UTC−04:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+595
Internet TLD
.py
ISO 3166
PY
Established
1811
Highest point
Cerro Tres Kandú (842 m (2,762 ft))
National anthem
national anthem of Paraguay

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Paraguay

Paraguayan Guaraní first; 2 languages share the country; 2 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Paraguayan Guaraní69%Official
Spanish67%Official
German2.9%None
Nivaclé0.2%None
Mbyá Guaraní0.2%None
Enlhet Norte0.1%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
1.1
Official-language gap
31%
Paraguayan Guaraní is spoken by 69%

Paraguay on the languages board · Language power

📰 In the news1 story
Every story in the latest digest →
💹 Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Human Dev. Index
#98 / 191
0.756
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#96 / 193
$49.3B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#101 / 193
$7.0k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#94 / 190
$20.2k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#101 / 192
$6.8k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#95 / 194
74.0 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
26.3 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#73 / 194
70%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.2%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#172 / 193
17/km² (45/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#120 / 193
2.6%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#107 / 175
0.39
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#146 / 166
44.2
World Bank · 2024
Internet users
#95 / 193
82%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#125 / 185
4.0%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#61 / 192
1.1 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
★ #5 / 186
100%
Ember · 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History14 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file.

Other

Santiago Peña Palacios✦ Current
President · 3y 2m 3d
2023–Present

Republic of Paraguay

Mario Abdo Benítez
President · backbone · 5y 3m 29d
2018–2023
Horacio Cartes
President · backbone · 5y 0d
2013–2018
Fernando Lugo
President · backbone · 5y 0d
2008–2013
Nicanor Duarte
President · backbone · 5y 0d
2003–2008
Juan Carlos Wasmosy
President · backbone · 10y 0d
1993–2003
Andrés Rodríguez
President · backbone · 4y 0d
1989–1993
Alfredo Stroessner
President · backbone · 35y 0d
1954–1989
Higinio Morínigo
President · backbone · 14y 0d
1940–1954
Eusebio Ayala
President · backbone · 8y 0d
1932–1940
Bernardino Caballero
President · backbone · 52y 0d
1880–1932
Francisco Solano López
President · backbone · 18y 0d
1862–1880
Carlos Antonio López
President · backbone · 18y 0d
1844–1862
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#104 · 0.1%
3%5%8%10%190019502000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts3 interstate wars · click to expand
Argentina Argentina,United States United States,Liberal Party,Febrerista Revolutionary Concentration,Paraguayan Communist Party
Combat deaths: 4,000+
Chaco War●1932–1935
Combat deaths: 92,661+
Combat deaths: 310,000+

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.” Figures marked “COW battle deaths” are Correlates of War battle-death counts, which run lower than total deaths.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
6.8m
#108 in the world
Since 1800
23×
from 300k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.09%
0.03% in 1800
1.8m3.5m5.3m7.1m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Paraguay: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2078
9.3m on the UN median
2050
8.6m
95% band 7.4m to 10.1m
2100
9.0m
95% band 4.8m to 17.2m
2100 against 2025
1.29×
median falling from 2079
Deaths outnumber births
from 2085
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
4.5m9.1m13.6m18.1m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
67k born · 18k died · -16k net migration
TFR 6.49 · life expectancy 58.1 · median age 15.9
1960
80k born · 20k died · -17k net migration
TFR 6.50 · life expectancy 60.2 · median age 15.6
1970
88k born · 22k died · -13k net migration
TFR 5.72 · life expectancy 62.6 · median age 16.0
1980
110k born · 26k died · -3k net migration
TFR 5.10 · life expectancy 64.6 · median age 17.6
1990
139k born · 26k died · -5k net migration
TFR 4.57 · life expectancy 67.3 · median age 18.2
2000
137k born · 27k died · -16k net migration
TFR 3.51 · life expectancy 70.0 · median age 19.0
2010
129k born · 30k died · -26k net migration
TFR 2.69 · life expectancy 72.6 · median age 22.2
2020
139k born · 40k died · -8k net migration
TFR 2.50 · life expectancy 72.7 · median age 25.5

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Paraguay on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.

National Teams Champions

Every major championship won by Paraguay's national teams, newest first. 2 in total.

1979· 1979-12-11