Mexico is by far the preferred destination of U.S. citizens traveling abroad but this country does not feature in the top five destinations for good-value living for expats around the world.
Figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office this week show that U.S. residents made 20.3 million trips to Mexico in 2012, way ahead of the 11.9 million trips to Canada, the 2.5 million trips to the United Kingdom, 2.3 million to the Dominican Republic and two million to France.
And, according to the Canadian government, Mexico is the most popular travel destination for Canadians (after the United States) with 1.6 million visitors in 2012.
At the same time, while more Americans expats are found in Mexico than anywhere else, Mexico ranks seventh in the 2014 International Living (IL) annual Global Retirement Index.
Panama ranks first for good-value living, closely followed by Ecuador, then Malaysia, Costa Rica, Spain and Colombia.IL says to produce the report, expats in many countries respond to a long list of questions “designed to get their fresh views on old places, and expert opinions on new ones.”
The survey is broken down into seven categories: special benefits, cost of living, ease of integration, entertainment and amenities, health care, retirement infrastructure and climate.
Mexico scores well for ease of integration and health, but is in a lowly 19th place for retirement infrastructure.
IL notes that in addition to Panama carrying out its “most ambitious infrastructure overhaul ever,” a main reason for its growing popularity among expats is its pensioner residence program, which guarantees residence for anyone with a government or corporate pension above 1,000 dollars a month.
Recent polemic changes to Mexican immigration law stipulate an income requirement of 1,900 dollars a month for temporary residency and 2,400 dollars a month for permanent residency.
Although one percent less U.S. residents traveled to Mexico in 2012 compared with the previous year, more are traveling abroad. According to the Department of Commerce, U.S. residents made 60.7 million foreign trips in 2012, up 59.2 million from the year before.