Immigration to (entering) Aruba in the last 50 years
By December 31st 2025, nearly 41 percent of the population of Aruba was foreign-born, representing 134 different countries and 98 different nationalities, including the Dutch nationality.
According to the 2015-2019 records, the average number of people registering was 2,975 per year. During the pandemic, immigration numbers experienced a sharp decline, falling below 2,000 in 2020. However, by the end of 2023, the number of people registering had not only recovered but began to surpass pre-pandemic figures, with 3,132 registrations and reaching 3,331 in 2024. In 2025, with “new” arrivals in combination with the “Hunto pa progreso” policy, the number of people registering totaled 4,260. This high number includes not only “new” immigrants but includes also people who were already physically on the island but were only officially registered once this policy allowed them to do so.
Since 2011, more women than men usually registered each year. In 2024 this trend shifted, when the sex ratio reached 101 men for every 100 women registering. In 2025, the sex ratio reached 112.4 men for every 100 women. This shift is mostly concentrated in the age group of 25 to 54 years for men, with an increase of about 50%. For women the shift is mostly concentrated in the age group 25 to 39 with an increase of about 43%.
Most people migrating to Aruba are foreign-born, and those born in Colombia and Venezuela represented the largest shares in 2024 at about 20% each of the total immigrants. In 2025, the number of registrations of people born in Colombia almost doubled, especially men.