Costa Rica: top migration destination

About 420 thousand foreigners lived in Costa Rica last year, the highest number in of Central America, according to a study by Pew Research.

Costa Rica has led the region in this category since 1990, mostly due to an influx of Nicaraguan workers, who as of last year numbered 300,000.

Panama has 160,000 foreign residents, among whom the biggest groups come from China and the United States.

No other Central American country has more than 70,000 foreign residents.

Honduras with 30 thousand has the fewest.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Argentina has the most foreigners with almost two million, while Cuba with 20,000 has the least.

The study includes people who have legally lived outside their country of citizenship for at least a year (figures in parentheses indicate the position of each country in the Latin America-Caribbean ranking).

1. Costa Rica (5)
2. Panama (10)
3. Guatemala (14)
4. El Salvador (16)
5. Nicaragua (17)
6. Honduras (19)