The recently added tables for Ecuador (2022) and Paraguay (2022) improve and expand knowledge of the levels, trends, patterns and territorial impacts of inter-city migration (covering localities or metropolitan areas with 20,000 or more inhabitants), including changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in the human settlement systems of these countries. It is worth noting that the tables focus on cities—either individually or grouped by population size—but also include a category that groups all Minor Administrative Divisions (DAME) without municipalities, which broadly correspond to rural areas.

Another notable aspect of the update is that the inter-city migration tables are constructed retroactively. This means that the territorial definition of cities used in the most recent census is applied to previous censuses of the 21st century, and those tables are also updated. Earlier tables, based on previous territorial definitions, are retained for specialized research within CELADE. This ensures that city tables reflect a consistent territorial definition across census years.

In terms of results, Table 1 shows significant changes in the most recent census, particularly in Ecuador where the top tier of the urban system—cities with 1 million or more inhabitants (Quito and Guayaquil)—has shifted into negative territory after a positive balance of 120,000 in the 2001 census. Conversely, municipalities without cities—historically characterized by out-migration (nearly -70,000 in 2001)—have become attractive, with a net gain of over 45,000. Between these extremes, intermediate cities have shifted towards out-migration, although smaller cities show near migration equilibrium in the 2022 census compared to strong outflows in the past.

Descriptive table MIALC Paraguay and Ecuador, April 2026

Note: “Less than 20,000” refers to cities that fluctuated around the 20,000 threshold during the reference period, not to localities consistently below that threshold (which MIALC does not classify as cities).

The combination of the pandemic—whose effects were more severe in large cities—and the expansion of organized crime (particularly in the two largest metropolitan areas and several intermediate cities) may explain this marked shift in the migratory attractiveness of different settlement sizes.

In Paraguay, the migratory attractiveness of the top tier of the urban system (comprising exclusively the Asunción metropolitan area) persists, albeit in a weakened form. A similar pattern is observed for “municipalities without cities,” which remains but is much more moderate. Nevertheless, the most striking feature of Paraguay is that, throughout the 21st century, only the top tier of the urban system has consistently remained attractive.

Migration matrices by educational level will soon be incorporated, filling a gap that has existed since MIALC’s creation nearly two decades ago. These matrices will provide new and useful information for all countries in the region with censuses from the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. They will include migration flows broken down into four education categories, complementing the existing derived matrices by sex, age group and other variables available in MIALC. These are calculated for both DAM and DAME, both recent and lifetime, and for the entire valid population of each matrix as well as for the population aged 24 and older. The latter is done to control the effect of age on education and to have a matrix that pertains only to the population that has already completed its formal education.