Paraguay: Country background

The Republic of Paraguay is located in the centre of South America. The country is divided by the Paraguay River into a western region, which consists of three administrative departments, and an eastern region, which consists of fourteen departments.

Demographics

According to the 2008 household survey (EPH), Paraguay has a population of 6,163,913, of which 58.6% live in urban areas and 41.4% in rural areas.
 
The age distribution indicates that the population to be relatively young, with 61% below the age of 30 and 6% over 65. The gender distribution shows that at a national level, the proportion of women and men is equal.
 
The general directorate of statistics, surveys and censuses (DGEEC) estimates that the life expectancy for the five-year period from 2005 to 2010 to be 71.76 years for both sexes. The estimate is 73.92 years for women and 69.7 years for men.
 
Like in several countries in the region, the mortality rate and birth rate have been going down over the past decade. The birth rate for the five-year period from 2005 to 2010 is estimated at 24.75 per 1000 inhabitants and the mortality rate at 5.62 per 1000 inhabitants.

Labour market

According to the 2008 EPH, the working-age population (persons older than 10 years) is 4,830,009, and the economically active population is 2,981,126.
 
The labour market participation rate (economically active population divided by working-age population) is 61.7% on average, but it is higher for men (75.8%) than for women (47.9%).
 
According to the 2008 EPH, the unemployment rate (the proportion of the economically active population in unemployment and seeking work during the EPH reference period) is 5.7%, which is similar to 2007 when the figure was 5.6%.
 

Social security schemes and programs by branch