50
Population Aging
migration into consideration), figure 2.3 identifies countries with positive net migration, that is, those in which the number of immigrants is higher than that of emigrants (total growth is higher than natural growth), and countries with negative net migration, that is, those in which the number of emigrants is higher than that of immigrants (total growth is lower than natural growth). Currently, total growth is below natural growth in most countries, including Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, as well as for LAC as a whole. In contrast, population has increased due to the inflow of migrants in Chile, Costa Rica and, to a lesser extent, Panama. In the case of Chile, immigrants were mainly from Peru, while in Costa Rica they were mainly from Nicaragua (Cortes 2005, cited by Guzmán and others 2006). In countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and República Bolivariana de Venezuela, migration balance has little effect on population size since total growth is similar to natural growth. In Argentina,
Figure 2.3
Natural and Total Growth Rates in LAC, by Country, 2005–10
30
growh rate (per thousand)
25 20 15 10 5
C Ur uba ug ua y C Ar hi ge le nt in Br a Co az lo il Co mb La st ia tin a R Am ica er i M ca ex ico P Pa eru Ve na Do nez Ec ma m ue ua in la, do ica R r n .B. Re de p El ub Sa lic lv Pa ado ra r Ni gua ca y r Ho agu nd a ur as Ha B iti Gu oliv at ia em ala
0
natural growth Source: CELADE/ECLAC population estimates and projections 2007.
total growth