The invisible debts Paraguay’s 2022 Indigenous Census asks us to confront

Paraguay’s Indigenous population is young, culturally diverse and still poorly served by basic services, figures from the 2022 Indigenous Census show.

The census reached 791 communities, villages and neighborhoods in 14 departments and the capital. Representatives of Indigenous peoples validated the questionnaire, and teams made up mostly of Indigenous people conducted the survey in local languages.

The results put Paraguay’s Indigenous population at around 140,000 people across 19 peoples. Thirty-eight percent are under 15, and the average age is 23.9 years. The figures point to a large young population, while also revealing inequalities that remain difficult to see in national averages.

Health coverage reaches only 19.1% of Indigenous people, compared with about 30% of Paraguay’s population overall. Indigenous women have lower coverage, and access varies sharply by territory. Among people aged 15 and older, 80.4% can read and write, against 94.9% nationwide. Literacy ranges from 93.3% among the Western Guaraní to 42.5% among the Manjui.

Access to safe drinking water is another major gap. Only 23.5% of Indigenous homes have potable water, with particularly difficult conditions in some territories. At the same time, hunting, fishing, gathering and cultivation remain part of life in many communities, alongside knowledge passed between generations and a strong role for handicrafts. The census offers a clearer view of both the inequalities and the cultural wealth shaping Indigenous life in Paraguay.