Costa Rica News – While Americans continue to come to Costa Rica to retire or seek out a more “pura vida” lifestyle, many Costa Ricans are headed north.
Between 1970 and 2010 the number of Costa Ricans migrating to the United States has been on the rise.
It went from 16,691 to 126,418, according to the Center for Research on Culture and Development.
Their research involved consulting 358 households with relatives in the United States. 301 of the people interviewed expressed a desire to leave for the States. The 126,418 figure came from the US census in 2010 and the number to date is estimated to have reached 200,000.
Some of the major motivations for immigration include looking for a job (21.4 percent), seeking better living conditions (36.13 percent) and the desire to save money and then return (30.25 percent).
Annually, $600 million in remittances is sent from the US to Costa Rica. In a study conducted in Perez Zeledon it was found that 58.1 percent of households recieve remittances at least once a month.
This money often covers food, education and health.
