A World Bank report reveals that 85% of Venezuelans in Chile do not want to return to their country

“Does Immigration Benefit Chile?” This is the subject of a study prepared by the World Bank that exposes the country’s “challenges and opportunities” in this regard. “Migration is a global and regional phenomenon whose impact depends on the public policy adopted by countries and citizens’ support,” they say at the beginning of the report.

It says Chile Receives mixed migration flows, it welcomes people in the full range of human movements of the motivations described in the 2023 World Development Report: economic migrants, refugees and mixed movements, economic and security needs. “Unlike economic migrants, people fleeing economic, political and social crises will come regardless of the country’s willingness to welcome them,” they explain.

In that respect, Chile receives 532 thousand Venezuelan immigrants and almost 1.1 million other nationalities. In comparison, Colombia receives 2.9 million Venezuela, Peru 1.5 million and Ecuador 475 thousand.

This report is of note to all incoming Venezuelans. 85% of immigrants want to stay in Chile Do not return to your homeland under the leadership of Nicolás Maduro.

On average among all immigrant nationalities, 20.3% were under 25 years of age and 32.4% were between 25 and 34 years of age.

Positive factors

Among the positive factors identified by the World Bank regarding migration, they note that “Chile has the opportunity to adapt its policies to take advantage of the benefits of immigration, as neighboring countries have done.” In this context, three advantages stand out: Demographic bonus, macroeconomic impact and fiscal impact.

First, “the working-age population outnumbers the dependent population (children and the elderly), creating favorable conditions for economic growth.” The second, meanwhile, “represents the effects of a change in the conditions of a particular country on key economic indicators: gross domestic product, consumption, public debt, fiscal deficit, etc.” Finally, the third is “the effects of a change in a country’s situation on fiscal revenues (direct and indirect taxes) and fiscal expenditures (education, health, social services, subsidies, etc.)”.

As for the demographic bonus, they say that immigrants to the country “are at the beginning of their working lives: 40% are between the ages of 20 and 34” and that they “have a more active participation in the labor market”. The participation rate is 80.8% compared to Chile’s 59.4%. Some nationalities participate more than the average.

They also point out that “they demand lower costs for social security: the financial stability rate of immigrants is higher than that of Chileans (for every peso benefit they receive, they pay more taxes)”.

Finally, they “have educational levels similar to or higher than Chile’s average: the percentage of Venezuelan immigrants with higher education is double that of Chileans” and “have careers and experience in areas that Chile lacks: almost 400 thousand with a higher education degree”.

Recommendations of the World Bank

In the final part of the report, the World Bank makes a series of recommendations for “a comprehensive migration policy”. First, for an institutional framework for migration management, they ask for the strengthening of the Interregional Council for Migration Policy and for good information management for decision-making. They also advocate cross-cutting policies of high strategic value, such as biometric registration and definition of immigration status.

They recommend drawing attention to regions, promoting coexistence and economic and social inclusion, and providing complementary support to recipient populations, such as reparations for groups negatively affected by migration; Complementary attention to the most vulnerable migrant population groups, and the use of mobilization principles, international cooperation and the dynamics of collective action.