Migration trends in Eswatini

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