Demographics of Panama

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Panama, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

Panama's population, (1961-2003).

Panama's population was 4,176,869 people in 2018, compared to 860,000 in 1950.[1][2] The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 29%. 64.5% of the population were aged between 15 and 65, with 6.6% of the population being 65 years or older.[3]

	Total population (x 1000)	Proportion aged 0–14 (%)	Proportion aged 15–64 (%)	Proportion aged 65+ (%)
1950	860	40.2	55.7	4.1
1955	983	41.8	54.1	4.1
1960	1 136	42.9	52.8	4.3
1965	1 319	43.8	51.8	4.4
1970	1 526	43.9	51.8	4.3
1975	1 754	42.8	52.8	4.4
1980	1 990	40.4	55.0	4.6
1985	2 233	37.6	57.6	4.7
1990	2 487	35.2	59.9	5.0
1995	2 757	33.3	61.5	5.2
2000	3 055	31.8	62.6	5.5
2005	3 366	30.4	63.7	5.9
2010	3 678	29.0	64.5	6.6
2015	4 080	28.1	64.6	7.3

Structure of the population [4]

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates - Data refer to projections based on the 2010 Population Census):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	1 934 264	1 916 471	3 850 735	100
0-4	187 797	179 822	367 619	9.55
5-9	184 487	176 909	361 396	9.39
10-14	180 579	173 379	353 958	9,19
15-19	170 895	164 639	335 534	8,71
20-24	160 414	155 878	316 292	8.21
25-29	154 493	150 986	305 479	7.93
30-34	147 618	144 488	292 106	7.59
35-39	140 942	138 936	279 878	7.27
40-44	130 725	130 042	260 767	6.77
45-49	113 877	114 213	228 090	5.92
50-54	96 564	98 076	194 640	5.05
55-59	76 084	78 641	154 725	4.02
60-64	58 974	62 105	121 079	3.14
65-69	45 360	48 700	94 060	2.44
70-74	33 839	37 313	71 152	1.85
75-79	23 622	27 020	50 642	1.32
80-84	14 944	17 956	32 900	0.85
85-89	8 174	10 458	18 632	0.48
90-94	3 573	4 938	8 511	0,22
95-99	1 119	1 678	2 797	0.07
100+	184	294	478	0.01

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	552 863	530 110	1 082 973	28.12
15-64	1 250 586	1 238 004	2 488 590	64.63
65+	130 815	148 357	279 172	7.25

Population distribution

More than half the population lives in the Panama City-Colón metropolitan corridor.

Bocas del Toro

Coclé

Colón

Chiriquí

Darién

Herrera

Los Santos

Panamá

Veraguas

West Panamá

Kuna Yala

Emberá-Wounaan No 1

Emberá-Wounaan No 2

Ngöbe-Buglé Comarca

Madugandí

Wargandí

Province	Capital city	Population(2010 Est.)[5]
Bocas del Toro	Bocas del Toro	118,405
Coclé	Penonomé	237,840
Colón	Colón	250,802
Chiriquí	David	426,790
Darién	La Palma	46,011
Herrera	Chitré	112,538
Los Santos	Las Tablas	90,984
Panamá	Ciudad de Panamá	1,796,674
Veraguas	Santiago	226,847
Comarca	Capital city	Population
Emberá-Wounaan	Unión Choco	9,497
Kuna de Madugandí	N/D	N/D
Kuna Yala	El Porvenir	37,545
Kuna de Wargandí	N/D	N/D
Ngöbe-Buglé	Buabidi	150,550

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Panama (2010 est.)[6]

  Mestizos (mixed Amerindian and European/White) (65%)

  Native Panamanians (Ngabe 7.6%, Kuna 2.4%, Embera 0.9%, Bugle 0.8%, other 0.4%, unspecified 0.2%) (12.3%)

  Black or African descent (9.2%)

  Mulattos (6.8%)

  White or European descent (6.7%)

The culture, customs, and language of Panama are predominantly Caribbean Spanish. In 2010 the population was 65% mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian), 12.3% Native Panamanians, 9.2% black, 6.8% mulattoes, and 6.7% white.[6]

European Panamanians

European Panamanians or Caucasian ethnic groups in Panama include Spanish, British and Irish, Dutch, French, Germans, Italians, Portuguese, Poles, Russians or Ukrainians (a large number are Jews), Greeks, and Americans.

Indigenous Panamanians

Population of Panama according to ethnic group[7]

Ethnic group	Census 1990		Census 2000		Census 2010
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Non-indigenous	2,135,060	91.7	2,553,946	90.0	2,988,254	87.7
Amerindian	194,269	8.3	285,231	10.0	417,559	12.3
Total	2,329,329		2,839,177		3,405,813

Indigenous population of Panama according to ethnic group[7]

Ethnic group	Census 1990		Census 2000		Census 2010
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Ngäbe (Guaymi)	123,626	63.6	169,130	59.3	260,058	62.3
Buglé (Bokota)	3,784	1.9	18,724	6.6	26,871	6.4
Kuna	47,298	24.3	61,707	21.6	80,526	19.3
Emberá	14,659	7.5	22,485	7.9	31,284	7.5
Wounaan	2,605	1.3	6,882	2.4	7,279	1.7
Teribe/Naso	2,194	1.1	3,305	1.2	4,046	1.0
Bribri			2,521	0.9	1,068	0.3
Other	103	0.1			460	0.1
Not declared			477	0.2	5,967	1.4

Asian and Middle Eastern Panamanians

Panama has a considerable population of Arabs and Asians: in particular Chinese, Lebanese, Palestinians, South Asians (from India and Pakistan) and Syrians. The first Chinese immigrated to Panama from southern China in the 19th century to help build the Panama Railroad. There followed several waves of immigrants, especially after the 1970s, when the ensuing decades saw up to 80,000 immigrants from all over China. At least 50,000 Panamanians are ethnically Chinese, though some estimates count as many as 135,000. Most of the Chinese population reside in the province of Chiriquí. Some studies suggest that almost 1 million Panamanians have at least one Chinese ancestor. [8][9]

African Panamanians

Afro-Panamanians first arrived during the colonial era. They are intermixed in the general population or live in small Afro-Panamanian communities along the Atlantic Coast and in villages within the Darién jungle. Most of the people in Darien are fishermen or small-scale farmers growing crops such as bananas, rice and coffee as well as raising livestock. Other Afro-Panamanians descend from later migrants from the Caribbean who came to work on railroad-construction projects, commercial agricultural enterprises, and (especially) the canal. Important Afro-Caribbean community areas include towns and cities such as Colón, Cristobal and Balboa, in the former Canal Zone, as well as the Río Abajo area of Panama City. Another region with a large Afro-Caribbean population is the province of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast just south of Costa Rica.[10]

Most of the Panamanian population of West Indian descent owe their presence in the country to the monumental efforts to build the Panama Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Three-quarters of the 50,000 workers who built the canal were Afro Caribbean migrants from the British West Indies. Thousands of Afro-Caribbean workers were recruited from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.[10]

Languages

Many languages, including seven indigenous languages, are spoken in Panama, although Spanish is the official and dominant language. The local variant is Panamanian Spanish. English is sometimes spoken by many professionals and those working in the business or governmental sectors of society.

Indigenous languages include Guaymí, Kuna, Northern Embera and Teribe. Bocas del Toro Creole is also spoken.

Religion

Further information: Religion in Panama

Religion in Panama (2013) [11]

  Roman Catholic (85%)

  Protestants (15%)

The majority of Panamanians are Christian; most are Roman Catholics as a result centuries of Spanish colonial influence. Other faiths exist in Panama by the country's tolerance and freedom of religion, there are large Protestant, Jewish, Bahá'í, Muslim and Hindu religious groups in Panama.

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Panama not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[3]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy total	Life expectancy males	Life expectancy females
1950-1955	38 000	11 000	27 000	41.4	12.0	29.5	5.76	92	56.8	55.9	57.8
1955-1960	44 000	11 000	33 000	41.7	10.6	31.1	5.87	80	59.5	58.6	60.5
1960-1965	50 000	11 000	39 000	40.9	9.2	31.6	5.79	68	62.1	61.1	63.3
1965-1970	55 000	12 000	44 000	38.8	8.1	30.7	5.41	58	64.3	63.2	65.6
1970-1975	59 000	11 000	48 000	36.1	7.0	29.2	4.88	48	66.7	65.1	68.5
1975-1980	61 000	11 000	50 000	32.5	5.9	26.6	4.19	39	69.2	67.2	71.5
1980-1985	62 000	11 000	51 000	29.5	5.4	24.1	3.63	34	71.0	68.6	73.7
1985-1990	64 000	12 000	53 000	27.3	5.1	22.3	3.24	29	72.4	69.6	75.4
1990-1995	67 000	13 000	54 000	25.5	4.9	20.6	2.96	26	73.6	70.8	76.5
1995-2000	71 000	14 000	57 000	24.6	4.8	19.8	2.87	24	74.6	72.2	77.2
2000-2005	74 000	15 000	59 000	23.1	4.8	18.3	2.76	20	75.6	73.0	78.3
2005-2010	75 000	17 000	58 000	21.3	4.9	16.4	2.62	17	76.4	73.6	79.5
2010-2015				19.8	5.0	14.8	2.48
2015-2020				18.4	5.1	13.3	2.36
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths

[4] [12]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
1952		29,013	6,791	22,222	36.0	8.4	27.6
1953		31,428	7,638	23,790	37.9	9.2	28.7
1954		33,521	7,511	26,010	39.3	8.8	30.5
1955		34,592	8,059	26,533	39.4	9.2	30.2
1956		35,582	8,352	27,230	39.3	9.2	30.1
1957		37,743	8,656	29,087	40.5	9.3	31.2
1958		37,733	8,364	29,369	39.3	8.7	30.6
1959		40,296	8,959	31,337	40.8	9.1	31.7
1960		42,359	8,827	33,532	39.9	8.3	31.6
1961		44,207	8,851	35,356	40.4	8.1	32.3
1962		46,274	8,239	38,035	41.1	7.3	33.8
1963		46,656	9,239	37,417	40.2	8.0	32.2
1964		47,419	8,743	38,676	39.6	7.3	32.3
1965		48,377	9,035	39,342	39.2	7.3	31.9
1966		49,394	9,184	40,210	38.9	7.2	31.7
1967		50,795	8,938	41,857	38.8	6.8	32.0
1968		52,489	9,568	42,921	38.9	7.1	31.8
1969		52,799	9,791	43,008	38.0	7.0	31.0
1970		53,287	10,225	43,062	37.1	7.1	30.0	5.0
1971		54,948	9,857	45,091	37.2	6.7	30.5
1972		54,910	9,076	45,834	36.0	6.0	30.0
1973		52,091	9,161	42,930	33.2	5.8	27.4
1974		52,772	9,001	43,771	32. 6	5.6	27.0
1975		53,790	8,683	45,107	32.3	5.2	27.1
1976		53,002	8,564	44,438	30.8	5.0	25.8
1977		52,722	8,036	44,686	29.8	4.5	25.3
1978		53,040	7,555	45,485	29.1	4.1	25.0
1979		52,919	8,192	44,727	28.2	4.4	23.8
1980		52,626	7,959	44,667	26.9	4.1	22.8	3.4
1981		53,873	7,976	45,897	26.9	4.0	22.9
1982		54,491	8,142	46,349	26.7	4.0	22.7
1983		55,222	8,499	46,723	26.4	4.1	22.3
1984		56,659	8,250	48,409	26.5	3.9	22.6
1985		58,038	8,991	49,047	26.6	4.1	22.5
1986		57,655	8,942	48,713	25.9	4.0	21.9
1987		57,647	9,105	48,542	25.3	4.0	21.3
1988		58,459	9,382	49,077	25.2	4.0	21.2
1989		59,069	9,557	49,512	25.1	4.1	21.0
1990		59,904	9,799	50,105	25.0	4.1	20.9	2.9
1991		60,080	9,683	50,397	24.6	4.0	20.6
1992		59,905	10,143	49,762	24.1	4.1	20.0
1993		59,191	10,669	48,522	23.3	4.2	19.1
1994		59,947	10,983	48,964	23.2	4.3	18.9
1995		61,939	11,032	50,907	23.5	4.2	19.3
1996		63,401	11,161	52,240	23.7	4.2	19.5
1997		68,009	12,179	55,830	25.0	4.5	20.5
1998		62,351	11,824	50,527	22.6	4.3	18.3
1999		64,248	11,938	52,310	22.9	4.2	18.7
2000		64,839	11,841	52,998	22.7	4.1	18.6	2.7
2001		63,900	12,442	51,458	21.3	4.1	17.2
2002		61,671	12,428	49,243	20.2	4.1	16.1
2003		61,753	13,248	48,505	19.8	4.3	15.5
2004		62,743	13,475	49,268	19.8	4.2	15.6
2005		63,645	14,180	49,465	19.7	4.4	15.3
2006		65,764	14,358	51,406	20.0	4.4	15.6
2007		67,634	14,775	52,589	19.4	4.3	15.1
2008		68,759	15,115	53,644	19.4	4.3	15.1
2009		68,364	15,498	52,866	19.0	4.3	14.7	2.5
2010	3,405,813	67,955	16,542	51,413	18.6	4.5	14.1	2.4
2011		73,292	16,367	56,925	19.7	4.4	15.3	2.5
2012		75,486	17,350	58,136	19.9	4.6	15.3	2.511
2013		73,804	17,767	56,037	19.2	4.6	14.6
2014		75,183	18,171	57,012	19.2	4.6	14.6
2015		75,901	18,182	57,919	19.1	4.6	14.5	2.445
2016		75,184	18,882	56,302	18.6	4.7	13.9	2.424
2017		76,166	19,482	56,684	18.6	4.8	13.8	2.403
2018	4,158,783	76,863	19,720	57,143	18.5	4.7	13.8	2.400
2019		72,256	18,569	53,687	17.1	4.4	12.7

Census

Panama’s census has been postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the government are currently assessing additional implications. They are evaluating the preparatory processes that can begin now, such as procurement.[13]

See also

• Panama
• Ethnic groups in Central America

References

1. ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
2. ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
3. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
4. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
5. http://www.contraloria.gob.pa/dec/Publicaciones/13-03/Boletin9.pdf
6. "CIA - The World Factbook -- Panama". CIA. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
7. Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censo (INEC)
8. Jackson, Eric (May 2004). "Panama's Chinese community celebrates a birthday, meets new challenges". The Panama News. 10 (9). Archived from the original on September 16, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
9. "President Chen's State Visit to Panama". Government Information Office, Republic of China. October 2003. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
10. "Panama : Afro-Panamanians". Minority Rights Group International. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
11. "Central America and Caribbean :: PANAMA". CIA The World Factbook.
12. "EEstadísticas Vitales - Volumen II - Nacimientos Vivos y Defunciones Fetales". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo - INEC. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
13. Technical Brief on the Implications of COVID-19 on Census (PDF). UNFPA. 2020.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.