This is a demography of the population of Uruguay including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Quick Facts Uruguay, Population ...

Demographics of Uruguay
Uruguay population pyramid in 2020
Population	3,426,260[1][2]
Growth rate	0.27% (2023 est.)[3]
Birth rate	12.65 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)[3]
Death rate	9.12 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)[3]
Life expectancy	78.66 years
• male	75.58 years
• female	81.86 years (2023 est.)[3]
Fertility rate	1.75 children born/woman (2023 est.)[3]
Infant mortality rate	8.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)[3]
Net migration rate	-0.88 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)[3]
Age structure
0–14 years	19.02% (male 330,536/ female 319,132)
15–64 years	65.55% (male 1,110,881/ female 1,128,546)
65 and over	15.43% (male 213,750/ female 313,419) (2023 est.)[3]
Sex ratio
Total	0.94 male(s)/female (2023 est.)[3]
At birth	1.04 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years	0.98 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.68 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Uruguayan(s)
Language
Official	Spanish language

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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects^[1][2] the total population was 3,426,260 in 2021, compared to only 2,239,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2015 was 21.4%, 64.2% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 14.4% was 65 years or older.^[4]

Uruguayans share a Spanish linguistic and heavily Spanish cultural background with its neighbour Argentina. Most Uruguayans are descended from colonial-era settlers and immigrants from Europe with almost 88% of the population being of either sole or partial European descent,^[13] with a majority of these being Spaniards, followed closely by Italians, and smaller numbers of French, Germans, Portuguese, British (English or Scots), Irish, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, Croats, Serbs, Greeks and others.

There are also smaller numbers of Western Asian (Turks, Israelis, and Lebanese) and South Caucasus ethnic groups (Armenians, Georgians, and Azeris).

Many Swiss settlements (colonias or "colonies"), such as Colonia Suiza, Colonia Valdense and Nueva Helvecia, were founded in the department of Colonia. Also, there are towns founded by early British settlers, such as Conchillas and Barker. A Russian colony called San Javier is found in the department of Río Negro. There are Mennonite colonies in the department of Río Negro and in the department of Canelones.

Many of the European immigrants arrived in the late 19th century and have heavily influenced the architecture and culture of Montevideo and other major cities. For this reason, Montevideo and life within the city are very reminiscent of Western Europe.

The rest of the Uruguayan population is Black/Afro-Uruguayan of African descent and about 1 or 2% are of Asian descent, mostly are Lebanese/Syrian Arab, and Chinese or Japanese ancestry.

Amerindians descendants make up a small population in the Rural North region, with Mestizos making up 6% of the population.

Uruguay has the highest percentage of self-identified White Latin Americans of any country in Latin America, however genetic studies have found that over a third of Uruguayans in the samples studied had Amerindian admixture.^[14][15]

Metropolitan Montevideo, with about one and a half million inhabitants, is the capital and largest city. The rest of the urban population lives in about 20 towns. Montevideo is about 200 kilometers (120 mi) away from Buenos Aires in neighboring Argentina.

Uruguay is distinguished by its high literacy rate (97.3%) and a large urban middle class.

As a result of the low birth rate, high life expectancy, and relatively high rate of emigration of younger people, Uruguay's population is quite mature. In 2006, the country had a birth rate of 13.91 births per thousand population, lower than neighboring countries Argentina (16.73 births/1000 population)[3] and Brazil (16.56 births/1,000 population).

During the past four decades, an estimated 500,000 Uruguayans had emigrated, principally to Brazil, Argentina and Europe. (Argentina is the main destination for Uruguayans, but they are also drawn to Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany.)^[16] Other Uruguayans went to various countries in Europe, Australia and the USA.

Neighboring ties and short distances between Uruguayan cities and Argentine capital Buenos Aires, have drawn a path of success for very talented Uruguayans who settled in the neighbor country and became famous and locally accepted. Some famous Uruguayans who excelled in Argentina are entrepreneur and financier Juan Navarro, sports journalist Victor Hugo Morales, singer and actress Natalia Oreiro, soccer players Antonio Alzamendi, Enzo Francescoli and Carlos Goyen, actor Daniel Hendler, actress China Zorrilla, entertainer Carlos Perciavalle and former playboy and journalist Luis César Avilés.

Emigration to the United States also rose at the beginning of the century, but remains a small part of the US population. The majority of Uruguayans in the US live in New York City, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Florida, and urban areas of California.

Uruguay has no official religion, church and state are officially separated, and religious freedom is guaranteed. A 2008 survey by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística of Uruguay gave Catholicism as the main religion, with 45.7% of the population, 9.0% are non-Catholic Christians, 0.6% are Animists or Umbandists (an Afro-Brazilian religion) and 0.4% Jewish. 30.1% reported believing in a god, but not belonging to any religion, while 14% were Atheist or Agnostic.^[18] Among the sizeable Armenian community in Montevideo the dominant religion is Christianity, specifically Armenian Apostolic.^[19]

Political observers consider Uruguay the most secular country in the Americas.^[20] Uruguay's secularization began with the relatively minor role of the church in the colonial era, compared with other parts of the Spanish Empire. The small numbers of Uruguay's Indians and their fierce resistance to proselytism reduced the influence of the ecclesiastical authorities.^[21]

After independence, anticlerical ideas spread to Uruguay, particularly from France, further eroding the influence of the church.^[22] In 1837, civil marriage was recognized and in 1861 the state took over the running of public cemeteries. In 1907, divorce was legalized and in 1909, all religious instruction was banned from state schools.^[21] Under the influence of the Colorado reformer José Batlle y Ordóñez (1903–1911) complete separation of church and state was introduced with the new constitution of 1917.^[21]

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.^[23]

• One birth every 11 minutes
• One death every 16 minutes
• One net migrant every 180 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 42 minutes

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[24]

• Emigration from Uruguay
• Immigration to Uruguay
• Uruguayan people