After years of seeing young, professional Peruvians leave the country due to political violence and a lack of economic opportunities, more and more professionals are now returning to the Andean country, the government said.
National statistics institute INEI said that 242,621 Peruvians returned to their home country between 2000 and 2012. The agency said that 59% of those individuals, or 143,000, returned during the 2008 to 2012 period.
About 26 percent, or 64,870 people, returned between 2003 and 2007, and 14.7 percent, or 35,713 people, came back between 2000 and 2002, the INEI said.
Peruvians have been returning for several reasons, but the biggest trend is due to the country’s strong economic growth and political stability. And this reverse migration brings hopefuls looking for jobs but also many looking at investing in small and medium business possibilities.
Peru has benefited from a robust inflow of investments during the past decade thanks to a global commodities boom, which has opened up opportunities not only in mining but in a slew of other sectors. At the same time, years of political violence during the 1980s and 1990s have come to an end and Peru is now enjoying political stability.
In addition to the pull factors, there have also been some push factors for Peruvians returning home. Many Peruvians who lived in Spain, for example, were caught up in that country’s economic crisis which saw a surge in unemployment.
Peru’s economy is now slowing, but it is still growing at a healthy pace. Growth should be around 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year, economists say. While lower than previous years when Peru’s economy expanded by more than 6 percent, the growth rate is still robust compared to most other economies around the world.
