Largest cities in Peru, 1975 to 2050

Lima leads Peru with 10.58 million people in 2025, ahead of Arequipa at 0.98 million in the UN city ranking.

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What the data shows

In 2025, Lima ranks #1 with 10.58M, ahead of Arequipa (0.98M) and Trujillo (0.95M).
By 2050, on the UN's projections, Lima is projected to rank #1 with 12.36M, ahead of Arequipa (1.11M) and Trujillo (1.07M).
Lima holds #1 for the whole period, 1975 to 2025.
Biggest climber: Caleta Sanitaria, from #6 in 1975 to #4 in 2050.
Lima grew 3× between 1975 and 2025.

About this chart

Lima stands well above the other cities in Peru: its 10.58 million people in 2025 are about 10.80 times the 0.98 million in second-place Arequipa. Lima also led the 1975 ranking, when the UN series put it at 3.52 million. Trujillo occupies third place in 2025 at 0.95 million. These are populations of urban areas defined consistently by the UN, rather than administrative city limits.

The UN projects Lima to lead in 2050 at 12.36 million people. The figures after 2025 are projections. The Degree of Urbanization identifies contiguous dense settlements, so these totals can differ from municipal and metropolitan statistics. The historical ranking is useful for comparing positions; changing settlement boundaries mean it should not be treated as a measure of growth within fixed city limits.

The data

Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 5, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts. Blank cells indicate that the source supplies no city value for that year, not zero population.

Largest cities in Peru, Population in millions, 1975–2050; projected after 2025, 1975–2050
Date	🇵🇪 Lima	🇵🇪 Trujillo	🇵🇪 Arequipa	🇵🇪 Chiclayo	🇵🇪 Chimbote	🇵🇪 Caleta Sanitaria	🇵🇪 Huancayo	🇵🇪 Piura	🇵🇪 Cusco	🇵🇪 Pucallpa	🇵🇪 Tacna
1975	3.52M	0.28M	0.26M	0.23M	0.19M	0.18M	0.16M	0.14M	0.13M	0.11M
1976	3.66M	0.30M	0.28M	0.24M	0.19M	0.19M	0.16M	0.15M	0.14M	0.11M
1977	3.79M	0.31M	0.29M	0.25M	0.20M	0.19M	0.17M	0.16M	0.14M	0.12M
1978	3.93M	0.33M	0.30M	0.26M	0.20M	0.20M	0.17M	0.17M	0.15M	0.12M
1979	4.07M	0.34M	0.32M	0.27M	0.21M	0.20M	0.18M	0.17M	0.16M	0.13M
1980	4.21M	0.35M	0.33M	0.28M	0.21M	0.21M	0.18M	0.18M	0.16M	0.13M	0.06M
1981	4.33M	0.37M	0.35M	0.29M	0.22M	0.23M	0.19M	0.19M	0.17M	0.14M	0.07M
1982	4.46M	0.38M	0.37M	0.30M	0.22M	0.24M	0.20M	0.20M	0.18M	0.14M	0.07M
1983	4.58M	0.39M	0.39M	0.31M	0.23M	0.26M	0.20M	0.21M	0.19M	0.15M	0.07M
1984	4.71M	0.40M	0.40M	0.32M	0.23M	0.28M	0.21M	0.21M	0.20M	0.15M	0.08M
1985	4.83M	0.42M	0.42M	0.33M	0.23M	0.30M	0.22M	0.22M	0.21M	0.16M	0.08M
1986	4.96M	0.43M	0.44M	0.34M	0.24M	0.31M	0.23M	0.23M	0.22M	0.16M	0.09M
1987	5.09M	0.45M	0.45M	0.35M	0.24M	0.32M	0.23M	0.23M	0.22M	0.16M	0.10M
1988	5.22M	0.46M	0.46M	0.36M	0.25M	0.33M	0.24M	0.24M	0.23M	0.17M	0.11M
1989	5.36M	0.48M	0.47M	0.37M	0.25M	0.34M	0.25M	0.24M	0.24M	0.17M	0.13M
1990	5.49M	0.49M	0.48M	0.38M	0.25M	0.35M	0.26M	0.25M	0.24M	0.17M	0.14M
1991	5.64M	0.50M	0.50M	0.39M	0.26M	0.35M	0.27M	0.25M	0.25M	0.18M	0.14M
1992	5.80M	0.52M	0.51M	0.40M	0.26M	0.36M	0.27M	0.26M	0.25M	0.18M	0.15M
1993	5.96M	0.53M	0.53M	0.41M	0.27M	0.37M	0.28M	0.27M	0.26M	0.19M	0.16M
1994	6.12M	0.55M	0.54M	0.42M	0.27M	0.37M	0.29M	0.28M	0.27M	0.19M	0.16M
1995	6.27M	0.56M	0.55M	0.43M	0.28M	0.38M	0.30M	0.28M	0.27M	0.20M	0.17M
1996	6.42M	0.58M	0.56M	0.44M	0.28M	0.39M	0.31M	0.29M	0.28M	0.20M	0.18M
1997	6.56M	0.59M	0.57M	0.45M	0.28M	0.39M	0.32M	0.30M	0.29M	0.21M	0.18M
1998	6.70M	0.60M	0.58M	0.45M	0.29M	0.40M	0.33M	0.30M	0.29M	0.22M	0.19M
1999	6.85M	0.61M	0.59M	0.46M	0.29M	0.40M	0.34M	0.31M	0.30M	0.23M	0.19M
2000	6.99M	0.63M	0.60M	0.47M	0.30M	0.41M	0.35M	0.32M	0.31M	0.24M	0.20M
2001	7.15M	0.64M	0.62M	0.47M	0.30M	0.41M	0.35M	0.32M	0.31M	0.24M	0.20M
2002	7.32M	0.65M	0.65M	0.48M	0.30M	0.41M	0.36M	0.33M	0.32M	0.25M	0.20M
2003	7.48M	0.67M	0.68M	0.49M	0.30M	0.41M	0.36M	0.34M	0.33M	0.25M	0.21M
2004	7.64M	0.68M	0.71M	0.49M	0.31M	0.41M	0.37M	0.34M	0.33M	0.26M	0.21M
2005	7.80M	0.70M	0.74M	0.50M	0.31M	0.41M	0.37M	0.35M	0.34M	0.27M	0.22M
2006	7.95M	0.71M	0.75M	0.51M	0.31M	0.41M	0.38M	0.36M	0.35M	0.27M	0.22M
2007	8.09M	0.72M	0.76M	0.52M	0.31M	0.41M	0.38M	0.37M	0.36M	0.27M	0.23M
2008	8.24M	0.74M	0.77M	0.52M	0.31M	0.40M	0.38M	0.37M	0.36M	0.27M	0.24M
2009	8.39M	0.75M	0.78M	0.53M	0.32M	0.40M	0.39M	0.38M	0.37M	0.27M	0.25M
2010	8.53M	0.76M	0.79M	0.54M	0.32M	0.40M	0.39M	0.39M	0.38M	0.28M	0.25M
2011	8.68M	0.78M	0.81M	0.55M	0.32M	0.40M	0.39M	0.39M	0.39M	0.27M	0.26M
2012	8.83M	0.79M	0.82M	0.55M	0.32M	0.40M	0.40M	0.40M	0.40M	0.27M	0.26M
2013	8.99M	0.81M	0.83M	0.56M	0.32M	0.41M	0.40M	0.41M	0.41M	0.27M	0.27M
2014	9.14M	0.82M	0.84M	0.57M	0.32M	0.41M	0.41M	0.42M	0.41M	0.26M	0.28M
2015	9.29M	0.83M	0.85M	0.57M	0.32M	0.41M	0.41M	0.43M	0.42M	0.26M	0.28M
2016	9.44M	0.85M	0.87M	0.58M	0.32M	0.42M	0.41M	0.43M	0.43M	0.26M	0.29M
2017	9.59M	0.86M	0.88M	0.58M	0.33M	0.43M	0.42M	0.44M	0.44M	0.26M	0.29M
2018	9.74M	0.88M	0.89M	0.59M	0.33M	0.44M	0.42M	0.44M	0.45M	0.26M	0.30M
2019	9.89M	0.90M	0.90M	0.60M	0.33M	0.45M	0.43M	0.45M	0.46M	0.25M	0.30M
2020	10.04M	0.91M	0.91M	0.60M	0.33M	0.46M	0.43M	0.45M	0.47M	0.25M	0.31M
2021	10.15M	0.92M	0.93M	0.61M	0.34M	0.48M	0.44M	0.45M	0.48M	0.26M	0.31M
2022	10.25M	0.93M	0.94M	0.61M	0.34M	0.51M	0.45M	0.46M	0.48M	0.26M	0.32M
2023	10.36M	0.93M	0.95M	0.61M	0.34M	0.53M	0.46M	0.46M	0.48M	0.27M	0.32M
2024	10.47M	0.94M	0.96M	0.62M	0.35M	0.55M	0.46M	0.47M	0.49M	0.27M	0.32M
2025	10.58M	0.95M	0.98M	0.62M	0.35M	0.57M	0.47M	0.47M	0.49M	0.27M	0.33M
2026	10.69M	0.95M	0.99M	0.63M	0.35M	0.59M	0.48M	0.47M	0.49M	0.28M	0.33M
2027	10.81M	0.96M	0.99M	0.64M	0.35M	0.60M	0.48M	0.48M	0.50M	0.28M	0.33M
2028	10.92M	0.96M	1.00M	0.65M	0.36M	0.62M	0.49M	0.48M	0.50M	0.29M	0.33M
2029	11.03M	0.97M	1.01M	0.66M	0.36M	0.63M	0.50M	0.48M	0.50M	0.29M	0.34M
2030	11.15M	0.97M	1.02M	0.67M	0.36M	0.65M	0.51M	0.49M	0.51M	0.30M	0.34M
2031	11.23M	0.98M	1.03M	0.67M	0.36M	0.66M	0.51M	0.49M	0.51M	0.30M	0.34M
2032	11.31M	0.98M	1.03M	0.67M	0.37M	0.68M	0.52M	0.49M	0.51M	0.31M	0.34M
2033	11.40M	0.99M	1.04M	0.67M	0.37M	0.69M	0.52M	0.49M	0.52M	0.31M	0.34M
2034	11.48M	0.99M	1.04M	0.67M	0.37M	0.70M	0.53M	0.49M	0.52M	0.31M	0.35M
2035	11.57M	1.00M	1.05M	0.68M	0.37M	0.72M	0.53M	0.49M	0.52M	0.32M	0.35M
2036	11.64M	1.01M	1.05M	0.68M	0.37M	0.73M	0.54M	0.50M	0.52M	0.32M	0.35M
2037	11.71M	1.02M	1.06M	0.68M	0.38M	0.74M	0.54M	0.50M	0.53M	0.32M	0.35M
2038	11.78M	1.03M	1.06M	0.68M	0.38M	0.76M	0.55M	0.50M	0.53M	0.32M	0.36M
2039	11.86M	1.04M	1.07M	0.68M	0.38M	0.77M	0.55M	0.50M	0.53M	0.33M	0.36M
2040	11.93M	1.05M	1.07M	0.68M	0.38M	0.78M	0.56M	0.50M	0.53M	0.33M	0.36M
2041	11.98M	1.05M	1.08M	0.69M	0.38M	0.79M	0.56M	0.50M	0.53M	0.33M	0.36M
2042	12.03M	1.06M	1.08M	0.69M	0.38M	0.80M	0.57M	0.50M	0.53M	0.33M	0.36M
2043	12.08M	1.06M	1.08M	0.69M	0.38M	0.81M	0.57M	0.50M	0.53M	0.34M	0.36M
2044	12.13M	1.06M	1.09M	0.69M	0.38M	0.82M	0.58M	0.51M	0.54M	0.34M	0.36M
2045	12.18M	1.06M	1.09M	0.69M	0.38M	0.83M	0.58M	0.51M	0.54M	0.34M	0.37M
2046	12.22M	1.06M	1.10M	0.69M	0.38M	0.84M	0.59M	0.51M	0.54M	0.34M	0.37M
2047	12.25M	1.06M	1.10M	0.69M	0.38M	0.85M	0.60M	0.51M	0.54M	0.34M	0.37M
2048	12.29M	1.07M	1.10M	0.69M	0.38M	0.86M	0.60M	0.51M	0.54M	0.35M	0.37M
2049	12.32M	1.07M	1.10M	0.69M	0.38M	0.87M	0.61M	0.51M	0.54M	0.35M	0.37M
2050	12.36M	1.07M	1.11M	0.69M	0.38M	0.88M	0.61M	0.51M	0.54M	0.35M	0.37M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Peru?

Lima is the largest city in Peru in the UN 2025 series, with about 10.58 million people. Arequipa follows at 0.98 million. These figures use the UN Degree of Urbanization definition, not municipal boundaries.

Which city is projected to be largest in Peru in 2050?

The UN projects Lima to rank first in 2050, with about 12.36 million people. This is a projection, not an observed population count.

Was Lima also the largest city in 1975?

The 1975 ranking was led by Lima, with 3.52 million people. The table preserves every city that reached the top ten in any year shown, including cities outside the top ten today.

Where does this data come from?

UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 5, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts. Blank cells indicate that the source supplies no city value for that year, not zero population. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

Can I turn this chart into a video?

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