In 2024, approximately 22.81 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the fifth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.51 million inhabitants.

Brazil's cities

Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 12.4 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.8 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 85 percent of inhabitants living in cities.

Mexico City

Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks fifth in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2021, the city registered a crime incidence of 45,336 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 32 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

In 2023, it was estimated that approximately 664 million people lived in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil is the most populated country in the region, with an estimated 216.4 million inhabitants in that year, followed by Mexico with more than 128.5 million.

The Latin America and the Caribbean Population Time Series data set provides total population estimates using spatially consistent and comparable Units for Latin American municipalities or equivalent administrative Units for the years 1990 and 2000. The data set consists of two vector polygon layers: one layer displays population estimates for subnational administrative Units in 1990 and 2000, including population counts, density, and percent change, at the municipality level or equivalent (level 2); a second layer summarizes this information at the country level (level 0).

Chart and table of Latin America And The Caribbean population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The population of Latin America and the Caribbean increased from 175 million in 1950 to 515 million in 2000. Where did this growth occur? What is the magnitude of change in different places? How can we visualize the geographic dimensions of population change in Latin America and the Caribbean? We compiled census and other public domain information to analyze both temporal and geographic changes in population in the region. Our database includes population totals for over 18,300 administrative districts within Latin America and the Caribbean. Tabular census data was linked to an administrative division map of the region and handled in a geographic information system. We transformed vector population maps to raster surfaces to make the digital maps comparable with other commonly available geographic information. Validation and error-checking analyses were carried out to compare the database with other sources of population information. The digital population maps created in this project have been put in the public domain and can be downloaded from our website. The Latin America and Caribbean map is part of a larger multi-institutional effort to map population in developing countries. This is the third version of the Latin American and Caribbean population database and it contains new data from the 2000 round of censuses and new and improved accessibility surfaces for creating the raster maps.

Chart and table of South America population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Graph and download economic data for Population Ages 0 to 14: All Income Levels for Latin America and Caribbean (SPPOP0014TOZSLCN) from 1960 to 2023 about 0 to 14 years, Caribbean Economies, Latin America, income, and population.

In 2023, the total population in Latin America & the Caribbean remained nearly unchanged at around 664.16 million inhabitants. Nevertheless, 2023 still represents a peak in the total population in Latin America & the Caribbean with 664.16 million inhabitants. The total population of a country refers to the de facto number of people residing in a country, regardless of citizenship or legal status.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total: All Income Levels for Latin America and Caribbean (SPPOPTOTLLCN) from 1960 to 2023 about Caribbean Economies, Latin America, income, and population.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Developing Countries in Latin America and Caribbean (SPPOPGROWLAC) from 1961 to 2023 about Caribbean Economies, Latin America, population, and rate.

This horizontal bar chart displays male population (people) by countries yearly using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is from the countries entity.

This dataset is about books and is filtered where the book subjects is Latin America-Population, featuring 9 columns including author, BNB id, book, book publisher, and book subjects. The preview is ordered by publication date (descending).

As of 2024, Barbados was the most densely populated country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 652 people per square kilometer. In that same year, Argentina's population density was estimated at approximately 16.7 people per square kilometer.

As of February 2025, more than 76 percent of the population of Uruguay was on social media. On the other hand, approximately 22 percent of Haitians used social networking platforms. Among the largest Latin American markets, Brazil had the lowest social media penetration rate at 67.8 percent, just below Colombia and Argentina. Online networking among Chilean young adults intensifies Young adults are the primary audience of social media in Chile. Nearly half of all Facebook users in the South American country were between 18 and 34 years old. The same age group accounted for almost 80 percent of Chilean users of LinkedIn. This generation has also been devoting more of its time to this type of online activity. During a 2020 survey, people aged 18 to 29 in Chile said they spent 4.1 average hours per day on social media. Obstacles for the expansion of social media in Brazil A handful of issues still set part of Brazil’s online population apart from social networks. The country ranked fifth in average internet connection speed in Latin America. Furthermore, almost one third of surveyed Brazilians said it was likely that their online accounts would get hacked in 2021. Finally, personal preferences may also play a relevant role. Around one out of four persons surveyed in Brazil stated it was likely that they would use social media less throughout 2020.

This bar chart displays population (people) by country and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, the decennial census is the official source of population totals for April 1st of each decennial year. In between censuses, the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and estimates of housing units for states and counties..Information about the American Community Survey (ACS) can be found on the ACS website. Supporting documentation including code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing, and a full list of ACS tables and table shells (without estimates) can be found on the Technical Documentation section of the ACS website.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..Industry titles and their 4-digit codes are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System. The Industry categories adhere to the guidelines issued in Clarification Memorandum No. 2, "NAICS Alternate Aggregation Structure for Use By U.S. Statistical Agencies," issued by the Office of Management and Budget..Occupation titles and their 4-digit codes are based on the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification..The categories for relationship to householder were revised in 2019. For more information see Revisions to the Relationship to Household item..In 2019, methodological changes were made to the class of worker question. These changes involved modifications to the question wording, the category wording, and the visual format of the categories on the questionnaire. The format for the class of worker categories are now listed under the headings "Private Sector Employee," "Government Employee," and "Self-Employed or Other." Additionally, the category of Active Duty was added as one of the response categories under the "Government Employee" section for the mail questionnaire. For more detailed information about the 2019 changes, see the 2016 American Community Survey Content Test Report for Class of Worker located at http://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2017/acs/2017_Martinez_01.html..The 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data generally reflect the March 2020 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineations of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. In certain instances the names, codes, and boundaries of the principal cities shown in ACS tables may differ from the OMB delineations due to differences in the effective dates of the geographic entities..Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on 2020 Census data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Explanation of Symbols:- The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. For a 5-year median estimate, the margin of error associated with a median was larger than the median itself.N The estimate or margin of error cannot be displayed because there were an insufficient number of sample cases in the selected geographic area. (X) The estimate or margin of error is not applicable or not available.median- The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "2,500-")median+ The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").** The margin of error could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations.*** The margin of error could not be computed because the median falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.***** A margin of error is not appropriate because the corresponding estimate is controlled to an independent population or housing estimate. Effectively, the co...

This horizontal bar chart displays urban population (people) by country full name using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays female population (people) by country full name using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

Based on land area, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers. Argentina follows with almost 2.8 million square kilometers. Cuba, whose surface area extends over almost 111,000 square kilometers, is the Caribbean country with the largest territory.

Brazil: a country with a lot to offer

Brazil's borders reach nearly half of the South American subcontinent, making it the fifth-largest country in the world and the third-largest country in the Western Hemisphere. Along with its landmass, Brazil also boasts the largest population and economy in the region. Although Brasília is the capital, the most significant portion of the country's population is concentrated along its coastline in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

South America: a region of extreme geographic variation

With the Andes mountain range in the West, the Amazon Rainforest in the East, the Equator in the North, and Cape Horn as the Southern-most continental tip, South America has some of the most diverse climatic and ecological terrains in the world. At its core, its biodiversity can largely be attributed to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and the Amazon river, the world's largest river. However, with this incredible wealth of ecology also comes great responsibility. In the past decade, roughly 80,000 square kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon were destroyed. And, as of late 2019, there were at least 1,000 threatened species in Brazil alone.

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, the decennial census is the official source of population totals for April 1st of each decennial year. In between censuses, the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and estimates of housing units and the group quarters population for states and counties..Information about the American Community Survey (ACS) can be found on the ACS website. Supporting documentation including code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing, and a full list of ACS tables and table shells (without estimates) can be found on the Technical Documentation section of the ACS website.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.ACS data generally reflect the geographic boundaries of legal and statistical areas as of January 1 of the estimate year. For more information, see Geography Boundaries by Year..Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..Users must consider potential differences in geographic boundaries, questionnaire content or coding, or other methodological issues when comparing ACS data from different years. Statistically significant differences shown in ACS Comparison Profiles, or in data users' own analysis, may be the result of these differences and thus might not necessarily reflect changes to the social, economic, housing, or demographic characteristics being compared. For more information, see Comparing ACS Data..Industry titles and their 4-digit codes are based on the 2022 North American Industry Classification System. The Industry categories adhere to the guidelines issued in Clarification Memorandum No. 2, "NAICS Alternate Aggregation Structure for Use By U.S. Statistical Agencies," issued by the Office of Management and Budget..Occupation titles and their 4-digit codes are based on the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification..Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on 2020 Census data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Explanation of Symbols:- The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. For a 5-year median estimate, the margin of error associated with a median was larger than the median itself.N The estimate or margin of error cannot be displayed because there were an insufficient number of sample cases in the selected geographic area. (X) The estimate or margin of error is not applicable or not available.median- The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "2,500-")median+ The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").** The margin of error could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations.*** The margin of error could not be computed because the median falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.***** A margin of error is not appropriate because the corresponding estimate is controlled to an independent population or housing estimate. Effectively, the corresponding estimate has no sampling error and the margin of error may be treated as zero.