Guatemala Population and Ethnic Groups Explained

GUATEMALA · POPULATION

The Guatemala population is about 18.7 million people in 2025, and it is young and tied closely to the United States. This guide explains how many Guatemalans there are, who they are, which languages they speak and why so many live abroad.

The numbers carry their dates, and the gaps in the official record are listed near the end.

The Guatemala Population at a Glance

The World Bank, the global development lender, puts the Guatemala population at 18,687,881 people in 2025, up from 17,357,325 in 2020. That is growth of about 1.5% a year.

The last full head count was the 2018 national census by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the government’s statistics office. It counted 14,901,286 people, of whom 7,678,190 were women (51.5%) and 7,223,096 were men (48.5%).

The census figure is lower because it dates from 2018. The World Bank figure is a 2025 estimate.

Guatemala has the largest population in Central America, ahead of Honduras at 11.0 million and Nicaragua at 7.0 million (World Bank, 2025). The Guatemala hub gives the wider picture, and Guatemala Explained covers politics and the economy.

Age, Growth and Family Size

The Guatemala population is young. The 2018 census found 33.4% aged 0 to 14, 61.0% aged 15 to 64 and only 5.6% aged 65 or older.

The World Bank estimates that the share of children fell to 31.0% by 2025, while the working-age share rose to 64.0%. That leaves a large labour force of young adults in search of work.

Women have about 2.3 children each on average (2024), according to the World Bank. The birth rate is 20.6 births per 1,000 people, against 4.9 deaths per 1,000 (2024).

Life expectancy at birth is about 72.7 years (2024). The average household had 4.5 people in the 2018 census, down from 5.2 in 1994.

Where Guatemalans Live

The census counted 53.9% of people in towns and cities and 46.1% in rural areas. The World Bank estimates the urban share at 56.3% in 2025, and cities are growing by about 2.1% a year.

Guatemala Department, the area around the capital, is the biggest, with 3,015,081 people in 2018, or about one in five Guatemalans. Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango and San Marcos come next, each with more than one million people.

Quetzaltenango Department, in the western highlands, counted 799,101 people. The smallest department is El Progreso, with 176,632 people.

The Capital and the Highlands

Guatemala City is the seat of government and the centre of business. The western highlands have large Maya populations, and Huehuetenango alone counted 760,871 Maya people in 2018.

The Petén region in the far north is large but thinly settled. It held 545,600 people in 2018.

Maya, Ladino, Xinka and Garífuna Explained

The census asked every member of the Guatemala population how they identify by origin and history. The answers were 56.0% Ladino, 41.7% Maya, 1.8% Xinka, 0.2% Afro-descendant, 0.1% Garífuna and 0.2% foreigner.

Ladino is the census category for Guatemalans who do not identify as Maya, Xinka, Garífuna or Afro-descendant. The Maya are the country’s largest indigenous people, divided into 22 language communities in the census.

The Xinka are a much smaller indigenous people, mostly in the south-east departments of Jalapa, Jutiapa and Santa Rosa. The census found most Garífuna, who are Afro-Caribbean, in Guatemala Department (4,583) and in Izabal (3,002) on the Caribbean coast.

The census counted 6,207,503 Maya, 8,346,120 Ladinos and 264,167 Xinka. It counted 27,647 Afro-descendants and 19,529 Garífuna, and 36,320 foreigners.

Where Each Group Lives

Maya people are the majority in four departments: Totonicapán (98.0%), Sololá (96.4%), Alta Verapaz (93.0%) and Quiché (89.2%). In Guatemala Department they are only about 13%, and in the eastern departments of Jutiapa and Zacapa they are almost absent.

Ladinos are the majority in the capital department, Escuintla and the eastern departments. Maya people are 30.1% of those in towns and cities, but 55.2% of those in rural areas.

Languages Spoken in Guatemala

Spanish is the mother tongue of 69.9% of people aged four and over in the 2018 census. Maya languages account for most of the rest, along with Xinka and Garífuna.

The biggest Maya languages are Q’eqchi’ (8.3%), K’iche’ (7.8%), Mam (4.4%) and Kaqchikel (3.0%). Q’anjob’al, Poqomchi’, Achi and Ixil each reach between 0.8% and 1.2% of people.

In numbers, Q’eqchi’ had 1,127,387 first-language speakers and K’iche’ had 1,054,818. Mam had 590,641 and Kaqchikel had 411,089.

What Mother Tongue Means

Mother tongue is the first language a person learned to speak. The census also asked about other languages people speak.

Among 4,021,870 people aged four and over whose first language is a Maya language, 55.8% also speak Spanish. The count comes from the census microdata published by INE.

How the Groups Live Together

The groups share a country but not the same chances. The 2018 census found that 88.2% of Ladinos aged 15 and over could read and write, against 69.8% of Maya people.

University degrees show a wider gap. Among people aged 25 and over, 11.4% of Ladinos held a degree, against 2.7% of Maya people.

Poverty is widespread. The World Bank reports that 56% of Guatemalans lived below the national poverty line in 2023.

Another World Bank measure puts 9.7% of Guatemalans below US$3 a day in 2023. The census itself does not measure income.

Women are less likely to read than men. Among those aged seven and over, 78.3% of women could read and write, against 85.0% of men.

Across all people aged seven and over, literacy was 81.5% in 2018. Women also head 24.3% of the 3,275,931 households counted that year.

Migration and the Diaspora

The 2018 census counted 242,203 people who had left Guatemalan households to live abroad, and 77.5% of them were men. The count is a minimum, because it covers only people reported by households still in Guatemala.

The US Census Bureau counts 1,365,684 Guatemala-born residents in 2024, with a margin of error of about 41,400. That equals about one person abroad in the US for every 14 living in Guatemala.

A second count asks people for their Hispanic origin instead of their birthplace. It finds 2,174,242 US residents of Guatemalan origin, with a margin of error of about 62,300.

Money Sent Home

Guatemalans abroad sent home US$25.7 billion in 2025, equal to 20.8% of the country’s economic output, says the World Bank. These family transfers are called remittances.

The guide to foreign powers and investors in Guatemala covers the wider outside links. The guide to who runs Guatemala’s economy shows where the money goes.

People Coming In

Few people move to Guatemala, so the Guatemala population is mostly home-grown. The World Bank counts 92,732 foreign-born residents in 2024, about 0.5% of the population.

The indicator gives no breakdown by country of origin. The 2018 census counted 36,320 people who identify as foreigners.

• California: 335,349 Guatemala-born residents (2024 estimate)
• Florida: 124,536
• Texas: 111,002
• New York: 85,067
• New Jersey: 71,939

What It Means for US Readers

About 1.4 million Guatemala-born residents lived in the United States in 2024. California, Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey host the largest communities.

Remittances of US$25.7 billion make US jobs and US rules a core part of Guatemala’s economy. Changes to visas, deportations or wages in the United States can therefore reach Guatemalan households quickly.

What Is Not Known

The census asked no question about religion, so it gives no count of Catholics, Protestants or others. The 2018 census is also the latest full count, so every 2025 figure here is a modelled estimate.

The census does not measure income, so this guide carries no poverty rate split by ethnic group. Neither the census nor the US survey splits Guatemala-born residents of the United States by legal status.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the population of Guatemala?

The World Bank estimates 18,687,881 people in 2025. The last census, in 2018, counted 14,901,286.

What are the main ethnic groups in Guatemala?

The 2018 census found 56.0% Ladino, 41.7% Maya, 1.8% Xinka, 0.2% Afro-descendant and 0.1% Garífuna.

What languages are spoken in Guatemala?

Spanish is the mother tongue of 69.9% of people aged four and over. Q’eqchi’, K’iche’, Mam and Kaqchikel are the biggest Maya languages.

How many Guatemalans live in the United States?

The US Census Bureau counted 1,365,684 Guatemala-born residents in 2024, with a margin of error of about 41,400.

How young is the Guatemalan population?

The 2018 census found 33.4% aged 0 to 14 and the average age was about 26. The World Bank puts the under-15 share at 31.0% in 2025.

Is Guatemala mostly urban or rural?

It is close to even. The 2018 census counted 53.9% urban, and the World Bank estimates 56.3% urban in 2025.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), XII Censo Nacional de Población y VII de Vivienda 2018, main results and census microdata, 2019-09-30; INE Guatemala, Censo 2018 infographics, Principales Resultados, 2019-09-30; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, tables B05006 and B03001, 2025-09-11; World Bank, World Development Indicators, Guatemala (population, age, fertility, urban share, remittances, poverty), 2026-10-08.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief