us expats in Ecuador

[JOHN BURKE]

Suzan,
Have you heard any estimates of total US expats in Ecuador, Panama, Chile. Think I read of 4K in Cuenca alone. Thanks and I will keep hunting

[SUZAN HASKINS]

I have heard of as many as 10,000 expats total (not jut US but including Canadian, European, South African, etc.) in Ecuador — up to 50,000 in Panama. I have not done the research on Chile. I think these numbers err on the high side – -especially for Panama and may be some combo of full-time, part-time and tourists at any give time.

Don’t know how you feel about expats — they can totally change the flavor of a place. They can also bring a lot of amenities and services you might want. But remember that 4,000 in a city the size of Cuenca is less than 1%. It doesn’t have a lot of effect except for the expat-driven businesses. If you go to the expat hangouts you’ll be swimming in them. If you don’t, you may not notice they’re there…

[EI EXPERT – EDD STATON]

I recently learned that what my gut said was an inflated number of gringos in Cuenca is true. The number of “expats” counted includes returning Ecuadorians with dual citizenship. Plus these figures represent the total number of visas granted but don’t account for folks who were unhappy and left.

[Author]

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