Every day, some 1,200 Colombians leave their country with no intention of returning, according to a detailed investigation published by Colombia’s leading daily, El Tiempo. The data, sourced from the country’s migration entity Migración Colombia and Civil Aeronautics, underscores a significant trend that mirrors the number of people who arrived in Colombia during the Venezuelan migration wave.
The phenomenon of Colombians emigrating has been steadily increasing, reflecting broader regional patterns. In a recent survey conducted in February 2024 by the Interdisciplinary Development Consultancy (CID), 30% of Colombians expressed a desire to emigrate if they had the means. This sentiment places Colombia behind the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Peru, and Guatemala in terms of emigration intent.
Pre-pandemic data from 2019 shows that an average of 670,000 people left Colombia via airports each month, with just over 650,000 returning. This monthly net loss of approximately 17,000 individuals was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially caused a significant drop in traveler flows due to global lockdowns. However, by September 2020, travel volumes began to recover, reaching pre-pandemic levels by September 2021.
Post-pandemic, the flow of passengers increased even further. Between October 2021 and July 2023, an average of 734,000 people left Colombia each month, while 696,000 arrived. This resulted in a net loss of 37,800 people monthly, or about 1,244 per day. Between January 2019 and July 2023, a total of 1,300,353 people left Colombia, never to return.
The annual accumulated number of people not returning surged from 204,483 in February 2020 to 447,856 by July 2023. March has consistently been the month with the largest discrepancy between departures and arrivals; for example, in March 2022, there were 101,000 more departures than arrivals.
The bulk of this emigration is by air. In 2022, 97% of all departures from Colombia were by plane. Those leaving by land accounted for only 2.8%, by sea 0.1%, and by river just 2 out of every 100,000 departures, as per Migración Colombia’s data.
Two out of every six Colombians who leave the country head to the United States, and one out of every six to Mexico. The fastest rising category for nationals is that of “non-resident.” According to the Consular registry (2018-2023), the majority of Colombians want to live in United States, followed by Spain, Chile, Canada and Brazil.
Illegal emigration has also spiked dramatically. U.S. immigration authorities reported nearly 170,000 “encounters” with Colombians while attempting to enter the U.S. without legal permits in 2023, a 30% increase from the previous year and a significant jump from the approximately 10,000 detained in 2021. This surge places Colombians as the group with the highest growth over the past 24 months, representing a 1,700% increase. In 2023, Colombians ranked fifth in terms of the number of detained migrants, following Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Cubans.
The situation shows no signs of improvement. In the first month of 2024 alone, 14,000 Colombians were detained, a figure comparable to the numbers recorded in September 2023 and significantly higher than those in June, July, and August of the same year, when the flow appeared to decrease.
The magnitude of Colombian emigration is staggering. Between 2015 and 2022, about 1.4 million Colombians left the country, never to return. This number is comparable to the influx of Venezuelan migrants during the same period.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1,725,000 Venezuelans have entered Colombia, escaping the deep economic crisis of the Nicolás Maduro government. In 2015, there were 55,900 Venezuelans living in Colombia; by 2022, this number had escalated to 1.78 million.
The primary departure points for Colombians are the major cities. According to Migración Colombia, 92% of those who leave by plane depart from Bogotá, Medellín, or Cali. Specifically, 64% leave from El Dorado airport in Bogotá, 18% from José María Córdova airport in Rionegro serving Medellín, and 10% from Alfonso Bonilla Aragón airport in Palmira serving Cali.
The growing number of Colombians emigrating reflects deep-seated issues within the country, including economic challenges, security concerns, and political instability. The disparity between those leaving and those arriving also indicates a critical demographic shift with far-reaching implications for Colombia’s future. As the nation grapples with an unprecedented “brain drain” of both its skilled and informal workforce, the loss of human capital undermines economic productivity and innovation potential, crucial for the country’s growth and development.
As talented professionals emigrate to countries such as the United States, Spain, France, or the United Kingdom—countries already burdened by immigration from Central America and Africa—a major political shift to the right in Venezuela with the July 28 presidential elections could encourage many Venezuelans to return to their country, leaving Colombia increasingly exposed with depleting numbers of professionals and a leftist government of President Petro that continues to sow economic and political instability at home, further driving away those who might contribute to the nation’s long-term prosperity.
