Migration trends in Eswatini
Africa
25.8K people from around the world have made Eswatini their home. That's 2.1% of the country population, arriving from 17 different countries
1.2M
Population
25.8K
Immigrants
11.6K
Emigrants
+14.3K
Inflow
1 in every 48 people in Eswatini was born abroad
The #180 largest immigrant destination worldwide
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in Eswatini
Where people come from
Where people move to
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
67.8K immigrants · 31.3K emigrants
1995
- The country became a place of departure — more people leaving than arriving
- Immigration contracted — the foreign-born population fell 59%
2000
- The outflow deepened — net losses doubled to 3.1K
2005
- South Africa overtook Mozambique as the largest source of new arrivals
2015
- The exodus eased — the diaspora abroad shrank by 24%
- The gap between arrivals and departures was cut in half
2020
- The country became a destination — more people arriving than leaving
Today
- The exodus eased — the diaspora abroad shrank by 39%
- Net migration doubled — the annual surplus reached 14.3K
- Since 1990: roughly the same number of foreign-born residents and roughly the same number of citizens living abroad