Uruguay - Data from Uruguay’s 2011 census, analyzed and presented this week by IOM Uruguay, confirms rising recent immigration and more nationals returning to the South American country.

IOM’s International Migrants and Returnees in Uruguay: Magnitude and Characteristics, reports that of the estimated 77,000 international migrants currently living in Uruguay, 18,000 (23 per cent) arrived in the last six years, and 7,500 (10 per cent) did so in 2010-2011.

From the 1800s to the 1960s, immigration from Europe (mainly from Italy and Spain) shaped the Southern Cone nation.  The 1860 and 1908 census tallied the foreign-born respectively at 34 per cent and 17.4 per cent of the country’s total population.

“Today, although the foreign-born now account for only 2.4 per cent of the 3.3 million population, it is an important trend for the country because migration patterns have shifted and the vast majority of international migrants are arriving from neighboring countries and countries in the region,” explains Alba Goycoechea, Head of the IOM Mission in Uruguay.

Argentina heads the list with 34 per cent, followed by Brazil with 16 per cent; Paraguay with 2.3 per cent; Chile with 2.2 per cent; Peru with 1.9 per cent Venezuela with 1.2 per cent; Colombia with 1.0 per cent, Bolivia with 0.5 per cent; and Ecuador with 0.4 per cent.

Returning Uruguayans are also adding to the influx.  In the past six years some 27,000 Uruguayans decided to return home, with 9,000 returning in the period 2010-2011.  Most of these recent returnees were living in Argentina and Spain.

In the mid-1960s, during a deepening economic, social and political crisis, Uruguay became a country of emigration as Uruguayans began migrating to countries in the region, North America and Europe. 

By 1996, an estimated 15 per cent of the population was living outside the country.   An additional estimated 117,000 people left the country between 1996 and 2004.  This brought the percentage of the population living abroad to approximately 18 per cent. 

The return of democracy, and more recently a period of significant economic growth and very low unemployment have been credited with the increase in immigration and the accelerated returns. Most returnees working age males with a higher level of education than the native population.

The census data also showed that the latest wave of international migrants have a higher education level than nationals. A total of 34 per cent have a university degree, versus 18 per cent for the native population. 

Although 20 per cent of Uruguayans who have returned home hold a university degree, the unemployment rate amongst them stands at 8.4 per cent, almost double the national rate of 4.4 per cent.

The publication is available in Spanish at: http://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/pbn/docs/Informe-de-resultados-del-Censo-de-Poblacion-2011.pdf

For more information, please contact

Alba Goycoechea
IOM Montevideo
Email: agoycoechea@iom.int
Tel: +598 2 916.80.43