Panama Forum - View Single Post - Any stats on number of Americans living in Panama?

ChecMark · 03-31-2008

According to the CIA World Factbook, 10% of the population of Panama is "white" and, although this is a pretty generic term, would include most Americans and Europeans. This would put the expats numbers at 32,000, which is probably close to correct.

The only hard stats would be maintained by immigration; however, given the ever changing laws, many of the expats here on "tourist" visas aren't tourists at all. They simply keep renewing their tourist status by leaving the country every three months for 72 hours. There also seems to be a number of expats who let their visas expire, then pay the fine when they leave and come back, if only because the fines are less than the costs to renew your visa through a lawyer, which appears to becoming a requirement now.

An offsetting factor is the number of expats whose primary residence is not in Panama. Most come here in the "dry" season, staying for a few months of the year. Their residence here is a second home, or they rent while they are here, so they cannot accurately be included in total population numbers.

Regardless of the current numbers, these will pale over the next few years as millions of Americans, Canadians, Australians, Asians and Europeans discover the many benefits of living here. Panama already offers a comprehensive pensionado program of tax incentives and discounts. If they get realistic about the retirement or semi-retirement market and develop a workable six month visa program the number of people moving here will grow exponentially.

There are also so many positive factors involved in Panama that will all affect growth - the expansion of the canal, the new cruise ship port, the new oil refinery, the expansion of the David airport to accommodate international flights and the annoucement of several airlines to provide direct service from the US, the four-laning of the highway from David to Boquete, the new highway linking Boquete and Volcan, and even the slick new tourism program by Minister Blades and the new James Bond film, much of it shot in Panama. These will all increase awareness of Panama.

The danger in all of this is that the country's infrastructure is severely strained by all this rapid growth. If you look at Panama City for example, a city of well over a million people, it is astounding that a city of this size dumps 40,000 metric tons of sewage into the bay every day. Plans have been announced for new sewage treatment facilities, but this is long overdue and the country lacks the financial resources to tackle these large scale projects without outside financing.

It will be a delicate balancing act for the government to encourage immigration and growth, yet provide the infrastructure required to sustain this growth.

03-31-2008	#22 (permalink)
ChecMark Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 30 Rep Power: 0	According to the CIA World Factbook, 10% of the population of Panama is "white" and, although this is a pretty generic term, would include most Americans and Europeans. This would put the expats numbers at 32,000, which is probably close to correct. The only hard stats would be maintained by immigration; however, given the ever changing laws, many of the expats here on "tourist" visas aren't tourists at all. They simply keep renewing their tourist status by leaving the country every three months for 72 hours. There also seems to be a number of expats who let their visas expire, then pay the fine when they leave and come back, if only because the fines are less than the costs to renew your visa through a lawyer, which appears to becoming a requirement now. An offsetting factor is the number of expats whose primary residence is not in Panama. Most come here in the "dry" season, staying for a few months of the year. Their residence here is a second home, or they rent while they are here, so they cannot accurately be included in total population numbers. Regardless of the current numbers, these will pale over the next few years as millions of Americans, Canadians, Australians, Asians and Europeans discover the many benefits of living here. Panama already offers a comprehensive pensionado program of tax incentives and discounts. If they get realistic about the retirement or semi-retirement market and develop a workable six month visa program the number of people moving here will grow exponentially. There are also so many positive factors involved in Panama that will all affect growth - the expansion of the canal, the new cruise ship port, the new oil refinery, the expansion of the David airport to accommodate international flights and the annoucement of several airlines to provide direct service from the US, the four-laning of the highway from David to Boquete, the new highway linking Boquete and Volcan, and even the slick new tourism program by Minister Blades and the new James Bond film, much of it shot in Panama. These will all increase awareness of Panama. The danger in all of this is that the country's infrastructure is severely strained by all this rapid growth. If you look at Panama City for example, a city of well over a million people, it is astounding that a city of this size dumps 40,000 metric tons of sewage into the bay every day. Plans have been announced for new sewage treatment facilities, but this is long overdue and the country lacks the financial resources to tackle these large scale projects without outside financing. It will be a delicate balancing act for the government to encourage immigration and growth, yet provide the infrastructure required to sustain this growth.