Language

Official language
Spanish (84.1%), Quechua (13%), Aymara (1.7%).

T-index
0.26%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Indigenous languages
Quechua (13%), Aymara (1.7%).

English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 56 of 112 countries/regions in the world- 11/20 position in Latin America.

Demography

Capital: Lima
Currency: Sol
Population: 33.36 m
Population density: 26/km2

Economy

GDP: 223.25 billion USD (2020)
GDP per capita: 6,692.2 USD ‎(2020) ‎
Exports: $40.5 billion (2020)

Statistics

Internet users: 65.3% penetration, 21.89 million
Unemployment rate: 5.1% (2020)
Urbanisation: 91.99% (2020)
Literacy: 94 % (2019)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals and comma as decimal separator

Date format:  yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy 
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0051

Economy

Imports
$34.7 billion (2020).  Refined Petroleum ($2.18B), Broadcasting Equipment ($1.08B), Computers ($833M), Cars ($828M), and Crude Petroleum ($752M), importing mostly from China ($9.91B), United States ($6.82B), Brazil ($1.77B), Chile ($1.46B), and Argentina ($1.41B).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 42% have an account with a financial institution
• 12% have a credit card
• 2.6% have a mobile money account
• 7% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is moderately high (rated 68,7 out of 100). Ranked 6th out of 21 Latin American countries. Ranked 76th out of 190 countries worldwide (2019, World Bank).

Exports
$40.5 billion (2020).  Copper Ore ($9.23B), Gold ($6.46B), Refined Copper ($1.8B), Petroleum Gas ($1.41B), and Animal Meal and Pellets ($1.19B), exporting mostly to China ($11.3B), United States ($6.36B), South Korea ($2.71B), Canada ($2.42B), and Japan ($1.91B).

Main local online stores
Mercado Libre, Amazon and saga falabella.com.pe. Other top retail sites include eBay, alibaba.com, apple.com, Linio Sites, Buscape Company, cineplanet.com.pe and ripley.com.pe

Economic freedom
‘Mostly not free’ (rated 66.5 out of 100). Ranked 8th out of 32 Latin American countries. Ranked 51st out of 186 countries worldwide (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 7th out of 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries, 70th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language Spanish

Information channels
Privately-owned outlets dominate the media scene, with state media having smaller audiences. Lima is home to dozens of radio stations and several TV networks. Radio is an important news source, particularly in rural areas. The use of criminal defamation charges against journalists is the main threat to media freedom, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Journalists are susceptible to threats and physical attacks, especially when covering corruption, says Freedom House. Media ownership is highly concentrated. RSF says Grupo El Comercio controls most national print titles and a major national TV network.

The press

El Comercio – Lima daily
Gestion – Lima daily
Ojo – Lima daily
El Bocon – Lima daily
La Republica – Lima daily
Diario Correo – daily, 15 local editions

Television

TV Peru – state-owned
America TV – commercial
Panamericana – commercial
ATV – commercial
Latina – commercial

Radio

Radio Programas de Peru (RPP) – popular Lima-based news and talk station
Radio Panamericana – Lima commercial FM station, music
Radio Nacional – state-run

News agency

Andina – government-owned
Peruvian Times – English-language

Internet Data

Internet users
65.3% penetration, 21.89 million

Share of web traffic by device
40.02% mobile phones, 59.7% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.90% tablet devices and 0.02% other devices

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
14.65  Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
42.26 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 114.6%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 83.5%

Most popular web search engines
Google (96.17%), Bing (2.11%), Yahoo (1.28%), Petal Search (0.021%), DuckDuckGo (0.08%), Ecosia (0.11%).

Most used social media
Facebook (83.09%), YouTube (6.96%), Pinterest (4.73%), Instagram (3.15%), Twitter (1.64%), Reddit (0.19%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
77 yrs (2020)

Average age of the population
31 yrs (2020)

Religion
The Peruvian Constitution allows freedom of religion. The major religion in Peru is Roman Catholicism which was first introduced by Spanish conquistadors and then imposed by Colonial and Republican rule. Evangelical churches have been noticeably increasing since the 70’s. Peruvian Catholicism is practiced distinctly in two domains. The first, oriented more to European and North American Values such as modernity, progress and globalism is practiced in urban areas.  The second one, associated with pre-modernity, native traditions, rural background, poverty, etc., is practiced in Andean and rural regions, as well as in suburban marginalised areas. Andean and popular religiosity has a holistic worldview that also includes cultural, social and spiritual values and practices. This concept has its roots in pre-Columbian polytheistic and theocratic religions and systems of belief. Despite the official dogma of the Catholic Church, Peruvian Catholicism is the result of five hundred years of syncretism. This is especially evident in the Andes, in rural regions and, in the last decades, in marginalized urban areas where millions of Andean migrants live. In real life, a Peruvian can go to church on Sunday to celebrate official Catholic rituals, but at the same time he or she can rely on and still practice Andean rituals related to health and spiritual healing.

The official Catholic Church has influence in current political and social life. For example, Catholic leaders still intervene in decision-making laws by influencing the vote against abortion and gay and lesbian rights.

Peruvians in general are spiritual, whether they are members of a church or not. A key factor to remember when approaching Peruvians is that spirituality is an important part of their identity and cultural background.