BOGOTA, Colombia -- At least 1.2 million Colombians have permanently left the war-torn country in the past five years, an International Migrations Organization official said on Monday.

But the number would probably be higher if it contained illegal migrants from the country of 40 million people, said the organization's Colombian Mission Chief, Diego Beltrand.

"There are other Colombians who opt to leave illegally, and it's not possible to know how many," Beltrand said.

Some cross the border into Venezuela and Ecuador.

The United States, Spain and Canada are other favorite destinations, Reuters reported.

Many people leave Colombia either to escape violence or the economic effects of a 38-year-old war, which claims thousands of lives a year. There are about two million internal refugees in Colombia, who have fled fighting in the countryside and mainly end up living in poor shanty towns around the rims of the country's big cities.