By Antonia Mufarech | Updated on Oct 06, 2026 at 04:06 PM
Venezuelans are leaving Chile by the thousands, slashing the rate of unemployment among foreigners, even as the jobless rate among locals reaches the highest in five years.
About 57,000 Venezuelans left the labor force over the past year, a drop of about 8.1%, according to a report by Universidad de Diego Portales’ Economic Context Observatory. That pushed unemployment among foreign workers down 1.3 percentage points to 6.8%, while the rate among locals rose to 10% in the June-August period.
“The data indicate that a gradual process of emigration among the Venezuelan population has begun, impacting labor market figures,” Juan Bravo, the director of the OCEC-UDP, said in the report.
The decline comes as Chile approaches a demographic turning point that is set to reshape its labor force over the longer term. Deaths are projected to exceed births starting in 2028, the same year the population over 64 is expected to surpass those under 15, according to Chile’s National Statistics Institute. That demographic shift is likely to increase the importance of questions around labor supply, including the role of migration, as the population ages.
The drop in Venezuelans in the labor force over the past year is concentrated among people who have lived in Chile for less than five years, have completed higher education, are between 25 and 49 years old and are male, the report said.
Chile experienced an unprecedented immigration surge over the past decade, with Venezuelans becoming the country’s largest migrant community. In a recent interview, President José Antonio Kast said he expects many of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in Chile to return home as conditions improve there following the removal of Nicolás Maduro.
Read More: Chile President Hopes Venezuela Recovers, Bringing Migrants Home
Chile’s net migration was at roughly 100,000 people in 2024, down from a peak near 200,000 in 2018, according to INE’s newest population estimates, released in 2026 and based on the 2024 census.
Kast took office on March 11 promising a crackdown on irregular migration, including stepped-up deportations and tighter border controls.