Lack of Jobs a Factor in Population Emigration from State of Nayarit Mexico News Daily
go to original January 11, 2016

Amatlán de Cañas, one of the municipalities where the population is in decline. (Visiting Mexico)

The Pacific state of Nayarit, already the fourth least populated in Mexico with just over 1.2 million inhabitants, is now facing an unprecedented exodus due to poor economic performance and lack of jobs that could turn eight of its 20 municipalities into ghost towns by 2030.

Many residents, it appears, have left for the United States.

There are estimates that just under half a million Nayarit natives are currently living in the U.S., where most are working on farms in California, Texas and Virginia.

Emigration has followed a decline in farming, stockbreeding and fishing in the state, and is encouraged by U.S.-based companies showing up every six months looking to hire cheap labor for agricultural jobs.

It has been estimated that Nayarit’s emigrants send about US $340 million back home each year, an important source of income for 56% of the state’s municipalities.

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