From 2010 to 2015, the population of migrants living in Brazil grew by 20%, reaching 713 thousand. Of this contingent, 207,000 come from other South American countries.
From 2010 to 2015, the population of migrants living in Brazil grew by 20%, reaching 713 thousand. Of this contingent, 207,000 come from other South American countries.
The volume of South Americans arriving in Brazil also increased by 20% in the same period. This is revealed by the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) World Migration Report 2018, released every three years and published at the beginning of the month (1st).
From 2010 to 2015, the population of migrants living in Brazil grew by 20%, reaching 713 thousand. Of this contingent, 207,000 come from other South American countries. The volume of South Americans arriving in Brazil also increased by 20% in the same period. This is revealed by the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) World Migration Report 2018, released every three years and published earlier this month (1st).
According to the survey, 70% of all migratory movements in South America are intra-regional, i.e. they don't involve moving to nations outside the region. Argentina, Chile and Bolivia identified the same upward trend in the volume of South American expatriates in their respective territories, with growth rates ranging from 16% to 18%. According to the IOM, migrants arriving in Brazil, Argentina and Chile come mainly from the Andean countries and also from Paraguay.
The IOM estimates that in 2015, South American migrants accounted for 29% of all foreigners living in Brazil.
At a regional level, when the origin of migrants is disregarded, Brazil is the country with the third largest number of foreigners, behind Venezuela, with 1.4 million migrants, and Argentina, with almost 2.1 million. However, the population of migrants in Brazil represents only 0.3% of all the country's inhabitants, a much lower proportion than the other two nations at the top of the ranking, where almost 5% of the population is made up of foreigners.
The IOM survey also shows that Brazil is the country with the second largest population of expatriates leaving South America. Around 1.3 million Brazilians live in countries outside the region. The country with the largest number of extra-regional emigrants is Colombia - approximately 1.4 million Colombians no longer live on South American soil.
The international organization also found that, since 2010, the flow of Europeans migrating to Latin America and the Caribbean has been greater than the reverse. Among the expats from the European Union, there are mainly citizens from Spain, Portugal and Italy. In 2015, there were around 700,000 Europeans from these countries living in South America. The IOM has also identified a growing number of Haitians, Cubans and Dominicans migrating to South American countries.
According to 2015 data, the IOM estimates that there are 244 million migrants in the world. This is equivalent to just 3.3% of the global population, a surprisingly small proportion which indicates that staying in the country of origin remains the norm. According to the UN agency, migration within national territory reaches considerably higher numbers - in 2009, this contingent was estimated at 740 million.
The IOM points out that migration brings benefits to those who move, to their families and to the countries of origin and destination. In 2016, the World Bank estimated that remittances sent by migrants to their relatives amounted to 429 billion dollars. Today, this amount represents more than three times the budget for international development aid.
In addition, migrants enrich the culture of the communities that receive them, with techniques and knowledge that are often unknown to the local residents.
Source: united nations.org
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