In 1940, most Peruvians lived in the countryside. By 2017, nearly four out of five lived in cities, the result of decades of rural to urban migration. That shift didn't happen through planning documents. It happened as families packed what they could carry, left villages in the Andes and the Amazon, and built new lives on the edges of growing cities, especially Lima.
This movement is one of the biggest forces behind Lima's hillside neighborhoods, its informal settlements and its infrastructure gaps. In this article, you will learn what the census data shows about Peru's urban transformation, why so many families moved to Lima, how that growth shaped the city's hillsides, and why infrastructure like staircases and retaining walls still matters in those communities today.
Peru's national statistics institute, INEI, has tracked the country's transformation for decades.
According to INEI census data, Peru's urban share grew steadily. By the 2017 census, 79.3% of Peruvians, or 23,311,893 people, lived in urban areas:
| Census year | Urban population | Rural population |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 35.4% | 64.6% |
| 1961 | 47.4% | 52.6% |
| 1972 | 59.5% | 40.5% |
| 1981 | 65.2% | 34.8% |
| 1993 | 70.1% | 29.9% |
| 2017 | 79.3% | 20.7% |
The same INEI data shows that Lima Metropolitana grew from 645,172 people in 1940 to 6,321,173 in 1993. Its share of Peru's population rose from 10.4% to 28.7% over that period. INEI also notes that the main population movements flowed from the Andean region toward the coast and the jungle.
Growth continued after that. The 2017 census counted 9,569,468 people in Lima Metropolitana, including Callao. INEI's latest projection uses a narrower scope, Lima's 43 districts without Callao, and estimated 10,432,133 residents as of June 30, 2025. Because these figures define the metropolitan area in different ways, they are best read as separate snapshots rather than one continuous trend.
According to the INEI 2017 census report, 20.3% of Peruvians, or about 5.96 million people, lived in a department different from the one where they were born.
Migration is rarely about a single reason. Each family's story is different, but most moves combined a mix of hopes and pressures:
These motivations are not unique to Peru. Rural to urban migration has reshaped cities across Latin America. Our article on human settlements in Latin America explains how and why these neighborhoods formed.
With limited affordable housing, many newcomers built homes on the steep, rocky hillsides at the edges of Lima. Homes often began with lightweight materials and were improved over time. You can read more about how shantytowns in transition are becoming more sustainable neighborhoods.
In planned neighborhoods, roads, water and electricity come first. In many hillside settlements, families arrived first and infrastructure came years later, if at all. That leaves residents facing:
Hillside neighborhoods are also places of strong organization. Residents often work together to request services and improve shared spaces, and many neighborhoods that began as informal settlements have grown into established districts with schools, markets and local businesses. The work of building them is ongoing, and it's led by the people who live there. Safe Homes Movement, powered by MEDLIFE, works with these communities on the infrastructure they prioritize, such as staircases and retaining walls. Every project follows a 50/50 model: residents identify the need and work on site, while local architects and engineers lead the design and supervise construction.
For students in urban planning, engineering, architecture and social development, the development service learning trip offers a chance to see how migration, housing and infrastructure connect. Trips run in summer, winter and spring in Lima, Cusco and Tena.
Rural to urban migration explains much of how Lima looks today, from its hillsides to its infrastructure gaps. If you want to understand that story alongside the communities living it, fill out the form to get dates, eligibility details and next steps for the Development Service Learning Trip.
According to Peru's 2017 census, 79.3% of the population lived in urban areas, up from 35.4% in 1940.
Families moved for work, education, health care and other services, often following relatives who had already settled in the city.
Lima Metropolitana grew from about 645,000 people in 1940 to more than 6.3 million in 1993, according to INEI, and the 2017 census counted about 9.57 million people in Lima Metropolitana, including Callao. Many newcomers built homes on hillsides where infrastructure arrived later.