|Get the Facts: Peru|
Peru at a glance
Government type: Constitutional Republic
Languages: Spanish (principal); Quechua, Aymara, and other indigenous languages are also official
Ethnic groups: 45% Indigenous; 37% mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white); 15% European; 3% African, Japanese, Chinese, and other
Religious beliefs: Roman Catholic 81%
Total population: 27.9 million
Percent of the population under 15: 32%
Urban population: 76%
Life expectancy: 71 years
Focus on reproductive health
Total fertility rate (average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime): 2.6
Contraceptive prevalence rate among married women aged 15-49: 48% (modern methods); 71% (all methods)
A Woman’s Lifetime Risk of Dying From Maternal Causes: 1 in 140
Percent of births attended by skilled health personnel: 73%*
In Peru abortion is legal to save the life of the woman and to protect the woman's physical health.
Focus on young people
Percentage of females ages 15-19 who have ever been married: 11%
Percentage of females who have given birth by age 18: 14%
Condom use by young people (15-24) at higher risk sex (2000-2006): Males N/A, Females 25%**
Focus on HIV/AIDS***
Adults 15+ living with HIV (2007): 74,000
Women 15+ living with HIV (2007): 21,000
Women 15+ as a percentage of all adults 15+ living with HIV (2007): 28.4%
Adult (15-49) prevalence rate (2007): .5%
Young women (15-24) HIV prevalence rate (2007): .3%
Young men (15-24) HIV prevalence rate (2007): .5%
HIV prevalence rate among female sex workers in capital city (Lima, 2006): .5%
Focus on gender
Literacy rate for women (ages 1524): 94%
Literacy rate for men (ages 15-24): 98%
From 1995-2002, 56% of women aged 15+ were economically active, compared to 75% of men in the same age group.
Expected number of years of formal female schooling: 13*
Ratio of estimated female to male earned income: .55*
Participation of women in national government (% seats held by women): 29%*
Source: Population Reference Bureau, www.prb.org
*Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers 2008: Closing the Survival Gap for Children Under 5, May 2008.
**World Health Organization, World Health Statistics 2008, May 2008.
*** UNAIDS, 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, July 2008.