The demographic characteristics of the population of Bolivia are known from censuses, with the first census undertaken in 1826 and the most recent in 2024. The National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia (INE) has performed this task since 1950. The population of Bolivia in 2024 reached 11 million for the first time in history. The population density is 11.36 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the overall life expectancy in Bolivia at birth is 68.2 years. The population has steadily risen from the late 1800s to the present time. The natural growth rate of the population is positive, which has been a continuing trend since the 1950s; in 2012, Bolivia's birth rate continued to be higher than the death rate. Bolivia is in the third stage of demographic transition. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated by the 15–64 segment. The median age of the population is 23.1, and the gender ratio of the total population is 0.99 males per female.
Bolivia is inhabited mostly by Mestizo, Quechua and Aymara, while minorities include 37 indigenous groups (0.3% average per group). Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani languages, as well as 34 other native languages are the official languages of Bolivia. Spanish is the most-spoken language (60.7%) within the population. The main religions of Bolivia are the Catholic Church (81.8%), Evangelicalism (11.5%), and Protestantism (2.6%). There is a literacy rate of 91.2%. An estimated 7.6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on education. The average monthly household income was Bs.1,378 ($293) in 1994. In December 2013 the unemployment rate was 3.2% of the working population. The average urbanization rate in Bolivia is 67%.
Population size and structure
The first true estimate of the population of Bolivia came in 1826, in which 997,427 inhabitants were estimated. This number was calculated from the 1796 census organized by Francisco Gil de Taboada, which consisted of several Bolivian cities. The first modern census was completed in 1831, and ten have been completed since then. The organizer of Bolivia's censuses has changed throughout the years—Andrés de Santa Cruz (1831), The Bolivian Statistical Office (1835, 1854, 1882), The Bolivian Statistical Commission (1845), The National Immigration Bureau and The Statistics and Geographic Propaganda (1900), and The Department of Statistics and Censuses (1950)—with the INE conducting the census since 1976. The national census is supposed to be conducted every ten years, however, the 2012 census was late because of "climatic factors and the financing." The 2012 census was conducted on 21 November 2012, in which 10,027,254 inhabitants were in the country. The estimated cost of the census was $50 million.
With a population of 10.0 million in 2012, Bolivia ranks 87th in the world by population. Its population density is 9.13 inhabitants per square kilometer. The overall life expectancy in Bolivia is 65.4. The total fertility rate is 2.87 children per mother. Since 1950, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the birth rate exceeded the death rate of the country. The population of Bolivia has been increasing since 1900, and has only had a negative per annum growth rate twice in its history (1835 and 1882). Bolivia is in the third stage of demographic transition. There were 562,461 immigrants in Bolivia in 2012, with the most (40.5%) coming from Argentina. In 2008, there were 48,809 marriages in Bolivia, and 5,887 divorces throughout the country in 2011.
Structure of the population
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 5,019,447 5,040,409 10,059,856 100 0–4 556 294 533 654 1,089,948 10.83 5–9 504 623 488 031 992 654 9.87 10–14 549 866 528 298 1,078,164 10.72 15–19 559 285 546 999 1,106,284 11.00 20–24 493 018 485 588 978 606 9.73 25–29 407 293 410 102 817 395 8.13 30–34 372 197 381 634 753 831 7.49 35–39 310 162 320 870 631 032 6.27 40–44 270 971 273 730 544 701 5.41 45–49 228 006 233 978 461 984 4.59 50–54 199 526 203 694 403 220 4.01 55–59 159 128 164 897 324 025 3.22 60–64 134 457 145 410 279 867 2.78 65–69 98 098 106 431 204 529 2.03 70–74 71 902 80 521 152 423 1.52 75–79 44 974 54 302 99 276 0.99 80–84 36 230 46 633 81 095 0.81 85–89 15 884 22 039 37 923 0.38 90–94 5 996 8 669 14 665 0.15 95+ 3 305 4 929 8 234 0.08Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 1,610,783 1,549,983 3,160,766 31.42 15–64 3,134,043 3,166,902 6,300,945 62.63 65+ 274 621 323 524 598 145 5.95
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 5,942,680 5,899,275 11,841,955 100 0–4 606 704 579 895 1,186,599 10.02 5–9 601 078 575 782 1,176,860 9.94 10–14 597 961 573 142 1,171,103 9.89 15–19 581 257 558 347 1,139,604 9.62 20–24 550 323 532 134 1,082,457 9.14 25–29 501 680 489 601 991 281 8.37 30–34 447 560 440 794 888 354 7.50 35–39 395 180 392 667 787 847 6.65 40–44 343 308 344 277 687 585 5.81 45–49 292 693 296 530 589 223 4.98 50–54 245 514 251 305 496 819 4.20 55–59 204 273 211 440 415 713 3.51 60–64 168 434 177 590 346 024 2.92 65–69 137 622 148 843 286 465 2.42 70–74 109 295 121 554 230 849 1.95 75–79 77 830 91 134 168 964 1.43 80–84 46 014 58 571 104 585 0.88 85–89 23 748 33 817 57 565 0.49 90–94 9 464 15 808 25 272 0.21 95+ 2 742 6 044 8 786 0.07Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 1,805,743 1,728,819 3,534,562 29.85 15–64 3,730,222 3,694,685 7,424,907 62.70 65+ 406 715 475 771 882 486 7.45
Vital statistics YearPopulationBirthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rateCrude death rateNatural changeFertility rates 1950 2,714 134 70 64 46.9 24.4 22.5 6.75 1955 3,100 149 73 76 46.8 23.0 23.8 6.75 1960 3,353 163 77 86 45.9 21.5 24.4 6.63 1965 3,751 18181100 45.4 20.2 25.2 6.56 1970 4,217 20385118 45.3 19.0 26.3 6.50 1975 4,786 20881127 41.1 16.0 25.1 5.80 1980 5,369 22076144 38.6 13.3 25.3 5.30 1985 6,041 23872166 37.1 11.3 25.8 5.00 1990 6,794 259 71188 36.0 9.9 25.1 4.8 1995 7,635 263 71192 32.7 8.9 23.8 4.32 2000 8,495 270 72 198 30.3 8.1 22.2 3.96 2005 9,355 267 73 194 27.3 7.5 19.8 3.50 2010 10,157 274 76 198 25.9 7.1 18.8 3.25 2015 11,025 282 79 203 24.5 6.9 17.6 3.04All statistics are per 1,000 inhabitantsAll data comes from estimations from the United Nations.
Births and deaths
YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseCrude migration rateTFR 2010 10,076,577 299,426 45,349 254,077 29.7 4.5 25.2 –8.9 2011 10,245,917 312,349 45,579 266,770 30.5 4.4 26.1 −8.5 2012 10,423,115 310,954 48,427 262,527 29.8 4.6 25.2 −8.1 3.05 2013 10,594,727 304,895 50,120 254,775 28.8 4.7 24.1 −7.8 2.98 2014 10,755,947 294,117 50,847 243,270 27.3 4.7 22.6 −7.5 2.92 2015 10,920,682 283,011 50,476 232,535 25.9 4.6 21.3 −6.1 2.86 2016 11,083,605 261,122 51,875 209,247 23.6 4.7 18.9 −4.1 2.80 2017 11,242,712 251,232 50,847 200,385 22.3 4.5 17.8 −3.5 2.74 2018 11,386,715 219,790 52,380 167,410 19.3 4.6 14.7 −2.0 2.69 2019 11,514,867 229,906 53,194 176,712 20.0 4.6 15.4 −4.2 2.63 2020 11,640,016 213,247 79,613 133,634 18.3 6.8 11.5 –0.7 2.58 2021 11,733,918 225,439 86,461 138,978 19.2 7.4 11.8 –3.8 2.54 2022 11,798,231 214,599 66,611 147,988 18.2 5.6 12.6 –7.1 2.41(e) 2023 11,872,175 202,124 54,471 147,653 17.0 4.6 12.4 –6.2 2.24(e) 2024 11,916,453 165,718 76,549 89.169 13.89 6.42 10.6 −5.06 1.69 2025 11,945,263 1.61 2026 11,982,400 1.56
Fertility Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 1989 5,0 (3,2) 4,0 (2,6) 6,4 (4,1) 1994 34 4,8 (2,7) 32 3,8 (2,4) 37 6,3 (3,3) 1998 30.4 4,2 (2,5) 27.4 3,3 (2,2) 35.4 6,4 (3,2) 2003 28 3,8 (2,1) 26 3,1 (1,9) 32 5,5 (2,6) 2008 26 3,5 (2,0) 24 2,8 (1,9) 28 4,9 (2,4)
Years 1930193119321933193419351936193719381939Total Fertility Rate in Bolivia6.486.496.506.526.536.546.556.566.576.59 Years 1940194119421943194419451946194719481949Total Fertility Rate in Bolivia6.606.616.626.636.656.666.676.686.696.70
Life expectancy
PeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195540.01985–199053.81955–196041.41990–199556.51960–196543.01995–200059.31965–197044.72000–200562.11970–197546.72005–201065.01975–198048.92010–201567.71980–198551.2 Source: UN World Population Prospects
Ethnic groups
According to a genetic study done on Bolivians, average values of Native American, European and African ancestry are 86%, 12.5%, and 1.5%, in individuals from La Paz and 76.8%, 21.4%, and 1.8% in individuals from Chuquisaca; respectively.
The vast majority of Bolivians are mestizo (with the indigenous component higher than the European one), although the government has not included the cultural self-identification "mestizo" in the November 2012 census. There are approximately three dozen native groups totaling approximately half of the Bolivian population – the largest proportion of indigenous people in the Americas. Exact numbers vary based on the wording of the ethnicity question and the available response choices. For example, the 2001 census did not provide the racial category "mestizo" as a response choice, resulting in a much higher proportion of respondents identifying themselves as belonging to one of the available indigenous ethnicity choices. Mestizos are distributed throughout the entire country and make up 26% of the Bolivian population, with the predominantly mestizo departments being Beni, Santa Cruz, and Tarija. Most people assume their mestizo identity while at the same time identifying themselves with one or more indigenous cultures. A 2018 estimate of racial classification put mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian) at 68%, indigenous at 20%, white at 5%, cholo at 2%, black at 1%, other at 4%, while 2% were unspecified; 44% attributed themselves to some indigenous group, predominantly the linguistic categories of Quechuas or Aymaras. White Bolivians comprised about 14% of the population in 2006, and are usually concentrated in the largest cities: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, but as well in some minor cities like Tarija and Sucre. The ancestry of whites and the white ancestry of mestizos lies most notably Spain, Italy, Germany, and Croatia. In the Santa Cruz Department, there are several dozen colonies of German-speaking Mennonites from Russia totaling around 40,000 inhabitants ().
Afro-Bolivians, descendants of African slaves who arrived in the time of the Spanish Empire, inhabit the department of La Paz, and are located mainly in the provinces of Nor Yungas and Sud Yungas. Slavery was abolished in Bolivia in 1831. There are also important communities of Japanese (14,000) and Lebanese (12,900).
Indigenous peoples, also called "originarios" ("native" or "original") and less frequently, Amerindians, could be categorized by geographic area, such as Andean, like the Aymaras and Quechuas (who formed the ancient Inca Empire), who are concentrated in the western departments of La Paz, Potosí, Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. There also are ethnic populations in the east, composed of the Chiquitano, Chané, Guaraní and Moxos, among others, who inhabit the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando.
There are small numbers of European citizens from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as from other countries of the Americas, as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela, among others. There are important Peruvian colonies in La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
There are around 140,000 Mennonites in Bolivia of Friesian, Flemish and German ethnic origins.
A few Bolivians carry some Middle Eastern ancestry, mainly from Syria and Lebanon.
Indigenous peoples