Population and Demographics

Chile is a relatively homogeneous country and most of its population is of predominantly European and Mestizo origin, with varying degrees of native Amerindian admixture, the product of racial mixture between colonial Spanish immigrants and native Amerindian tribes.

Chile isn't highly populated, but about 85% of its population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in Greater Santiago (at 6.5 million). Chile's population growth is among the lowest in Latin America: at around 0.97%, it comes third only to Uruguay and Cuba. Chile's population is growing enough to fill the 'replacement rate' as the country's population is expected to reach 20 million by the year 2025.

Chile is sometimes considered to have more of a 'European' culture than some of its northern neighbours; its population shares with Argentina and Uruguay high degrees of European ancestry. For the first three centuries as a Spanish colony, Chile was a sparsely populated frontier that was rural and undeveloped, the government encouraged immigration to a certain extent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Europe and across Latin America to populate the land and generate economic growth in the country.

After three decades of recession and economic decline, Chile rebounded in living standards and had unprecedented economic growth in the 1990's and early 2000's. It heads up as one of the southern or western hemisphere's largest middle class percentages estimated at 40%, although a very small wealthy elite that is in charge of much of the country's resources. Another demographic study in 2006 finds over half the population in the lower-middle class, while 40%-45% are middle and upper class (comparable to most western or developed countries).

Facts and Figures

• Population: 16,134,219
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 24.7% (male 2,035,278/female 1,944,754)
  • 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 5,403,525/female 5,420,497)
  • 65 years and over: 8.2% (male 555,075/female 775,090)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 30.4 years
  • Male: 29.5 years
  • Female: 31.4 years
• Population Growth Rate: 0.94%
• Birth Rate: 15.23 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 5.81 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 8.58 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 9.32 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 76.77 years
  • Male: 73.49 years
  • Female: 80.21 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 2 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.3%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 26,000
• Ethnic Groups:
  • White and white-Amerindian 95%
  • Amerindian 3%
  • Other 2%
• Religions:
  • Roman Catholic 89%
  • Protestant 11%
  • Jewish 0.1%
• Languages:
  • Spanish
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 96.2%
  • Male: 96.4%
  • Female: 96.1%