# Number of foreigners living in Mexico



## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I can remember when forums like this one were _very _active. Now it seems there is only a small group of regulars, and infrequent passers-by asking for information. 

Do you think that the number of foreigners living in Mexico has declined in recent years? Has the interest in retiring in Mexico cooled?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I think there are certain times when all boards go quiet for a while but since many newcomer questions are about moving to Mexico I doubt interest in either moving or retiring in Mexico has cooled..........


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> I can remember when forums like this one were _very _active. Now it seems there is only a small group of regulars, and infrequent passers-by asking for information.
> 
> Do you think that the number of foreigners living in Mexico has declined in recent years? Has the interest in retiring in Mexico cooled?


You are living in Spain right now and are from the USA, according to your profile. Why the interest in Mexico? Thinking of moving here?


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Maybe with no auto imports being done and a vastly simplified Visa process (I think) there's just fewer questions to ask


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

Isla Verde said:


> You are living in Spain right now and are from the USA, according to your profile. Why the interest in Mexico? Thinking of moving here?


Hi Isla,

No, actually, I'm mostly in the US right now. I am in a PhD program in Spanish. 

My research has been in Mexico but I have recently taken a shine to Spain. Hope you don't hold that against me!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> Hi Isla,
> 
> No, actually, I'm mostly in the US right now. I am in a PhD program in Spanish.
> 
> My research has been in Mexico but I have recently taken a shine to Spain. Hope you don't hold that against me!


Good luck with your PhD program. 

I have spent quite a bit of time in Spain over the years (I have an MA in Spanish but never made it as far as a PhD) and might have retired there instead of Mexico if it weren't for those pesky UE regulations that make it hard for a US citizen to live there permanently.


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## mattoleriver (Oct 21, 2011)

I've seen speculation on other boards, boards that cover a range of interests not specifically directed toward Mexico, expats, retirees, etc., that a lot of the traffic has moved to Facebook. I remember when it was boards like this one that hijacked all the traffic away from Usenet news groups. Usenet is now so dead I haven't even set up a news reader on my last few computers.:rip:

I do not have a Facebook account and I do not care enough to confirm whether any of this is true.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

So is there any credible source of info on how many retirees live in Mexico? If you look at the Spain forum on this board, you will see a LOT more activity than on this Mexico forum. The traffic difference is noteworthy.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Are most of them British tourists? I suspect so. Probably not too many Yanks.
I have no idea how many US, Canadian or other retirees live in Mexico, but the largest concentration is around Lake Chapala and they number in the thousands. However, I know that only a small percentage follow these various boards.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> Are most of them British tourists? I suspect so. Probably not too many Yanks.
> I have no idea how many US, Canadian or other retirees live in Mexico, but the largest concentration is around Lake Chapala and they number in the thousands. However, I know that only a small percentage follow these various boards.


Since I've spent a fair amount of time in Spain over the years, I often check out the activity on that forum. From what I can tell, the vast majority of participants are UK citizens living in Spain, many of them retirees but also many still of working age. Very few seem to be tourists.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> So is there any credible source of info on how many retirees live in Mexico? If you look at the Spain forum on this board, you will see a LOT more activity than on this Mexico forum. The traffic difference is noteworthy.


If you look at the last census data (2010), there were counts of the number of US and Canadian born people living in Mexico. I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, but it was something like 500,000 or 1,000,000 US and Canadian citizens in Mexico. However, by far the vast majority of them were children. My guess is that the number of retirees is a few 10s of thousands with large pockets in Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende and small groups elsewhere.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

It sounds like no one really knows how many retirees live in Mexico. I'm just wondering if interest in Mexico has declined.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> It sounds like no one really knows how many retirees live in Mexico. I'm just wondering if interest in Mexico has declined.


This is not a bureau of statistics, just an informal forum for expats in Mexico.

Why are you so interested in what you see as a decline of interest in Mexico?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> It sounds like no one really knows how many retirees live in Mexico. I'm just wondering if interest in Mexico has declined.


It is difficult to determine the number of retirees with a visa, since many, possibly half, are work visas unrelated to retirees. 

Interest wanes and waxes, yet the number of people moving to Mexico is on the increase. Perhaps Mexico is becoming less dangerous than the US.


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## mattoleriver (Oct 21, 2011)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> It sounds like no one really knows how many retirees live in Mexico. I'm just wondering if interest in Mexico has declined.


If this is the only Mexican forum that you follow I can easily understand why you would wonder. It looks to me like the boards that focus on the entire country share very few core contributors. If all of these contributors were on one board that particular board's traffic would rise and, IMHO, draw in even more contributors. At present there are too many broad focus boards. The regional boards seem to have plenty of traffic.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> Interest wanes and waxes, yet the number of people moving to Mexico is on the increase. Perhaps Mexico is becoming less dangerous than the US.


Or Paris! http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/w...ackage-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> It sounds like no one really knows how many retirees live in Mexico. I'm just wondering if interest in Mexico has declined.


I am quite sure that INM knows exactly how many there are here, both on visas and on tourist permits. The census provides another estimate of the numbers, but it would take some digging to pull the numbers out of it. As Isla commented, the fact that no one here can answer your question, does not imply it is unanswerable.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> So is there any credible source of info on how many retirees live in Mexico? If you look at the Spain forum on this board, you will see a LOT more activity than on this Mexico forum. The traffic difference is noteworthy.


How many United Kingdom people are expats in Spain. That may explain the difference in activity. Or maybe it is just that the Brits talk more than US or Canadians.


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## Scooterbum (Feb 1, 2013)

Country 2010 2000 1990
1 United States	738,103	343,591	194,619
2 Guatemala	35,322	23,597	46,005
3 Spain 18,873	21,024	24,783
4 Colombia 13,922	6,465	4,635
5 Argentina 13,696	6,215	4,964
6 Cuba 12,108	5,537	5,217
7 Honduras	10,991	3,722	1,997
8 Venezuela	10,063	2,823	1,533
9 El Salvador	8,088	6,647	2,979
10 Canada	7,943	5,768	3,011
11 France	7,163	5,723	4,195
12 China	6,655	2,100	1,161
13 Germany	6,214	5,595	4,499
14 Peru 5,886	3,749	1,633
15 Chile	5,267	3,848	2,501
16 Italy 4,964	3,904	2,397
17 Brazil	4,532	2,320	1,293
18 South Korea	3,960	2,079	1,161
19 Nicaragua	3,572	2,522	1,521
Other countries	43,799	37,126	32,487
TOTAL	961,121	492,617	340,246
Source: INEGI (2000),[36] CONAPO (1990)[37][38] and INEGI (2010)[39]


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Scooterbum said:


> Country 2010 2000 1990
> 1 United States	738,103	343,591	194,619
> 2 Guatemala	35,322	23,597	46,005
> 3 Spain 18,873	21,024	24,783
> ...


The US numbers include mostly children born in the US but now living in Mexico with their relatives. They are not all retirees or adults working in Mexico.


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## fmr pnw (May 31, 2015)

Scooterbum,

Thank you so much for doing the research and posting this!

regards,
Gayle
Puerto Vallarta


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

In Chapala, we have seen less people from NOB coming in the last few years, and more returning NOB. Many old timers return to be near family and for health reasons, a few for security reasons. That is only based on my personal observations since 1999.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Where I live in Chiapas, Mexicans are considered foreigners and haxe been considered so for some 400 years so under that definition, there seem to be about 49 milion foreigners in Mexico excluding Texas seasonal clodhoppers..


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I asked the question here because it seems there's always someone who knows something. For some reason the question of the number of retirees in Mexico seems very difficult to answer. Thank you coondawg, that is my personal opinion too based on forum activity levels. Why do you think you are seeing fewer people arriving from NOB in recent years?

That would be more like 100 million foreigners?


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## mattoleriver (Oct 21, 2011)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> ...Why do you think you are seeing fewer people arriving from NOB in recent years?


For many years there has been a constant barrage of what amounts to bad publicity for Mexico all over the U.S. media. Whether in the news or "reality" cop shows it is a rare day that there is not some story featuring corruption, lawlessness and danger in Mexico or prominently featuring Mexicans behaving badly in the U.S. The National Geographic Channel is one of the worst with Border Wars and Court TV isn't far behind with Bait Car. In _fairness_ Bait Car gives equal coverage to black criminals.
How many times need one be warned before choosing to believe that there is something behind those warnings? Some (many?) are bound to swallow it.


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

I believe that the reports in the news NOB, of lots of concerning activities in Mexico by criminals, the government, and the military, have turned many people off of trying Mexico. Why fool with the hassle? Also, people are deciding to work longer, stay closer to family, and naturally, health concerns and costs. There are now many places NOB that one can live almost as cheaply as in Mexico, and without the concerns one finds in Mexico. To me, and to some that I call friend, the Mexico of today, is not the Mexico we found before 2000. Were I looking today, rather than in 1999, I would not stay long in Mexico. Still, I would visit on occasion.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Their are many forrigners in Chiapas but they are typically from SOB, not NOB.


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