Abstract Introduction There are few longitudinal studies of dementia in developing countries. We used longitudinal data from the Maracaibo Aging Study to accurately determine the age‐ and sex‐specific incidence of dementia in elderly Latin Americans. Methods The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision) was used to diagnose dementia, which was classified as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or other. Age‐ and sex‐specific incidence was estimated as the number of new cases of dementia divided by person‐years (p‐y) of follow‐up. Results The incidence of all dementia diagnoses was 9.10 per 1000 p‐y (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.13–11.44; 8026 total p‐y), 5.18 for Alzheimer's disease (95% CI 3.72–7.03; 7916 total p‐y), and 3.35 for vascular dementia (95% CI 2.19–4.91; 7757 total p‐y). Discussion Among Maracaibo Aging Study participants younger than 65 years, the incidence of dementia was higher than that of US Whites. Among individuals older than 65 years, the incidence was comparable to the mean of previous incidence estimates for other populations worldwide.