Migration trends in South Africa
Africa
2.6M people from around the world have made South Africa their home. That's 4.0% of the country population, arriving from 119 different countries
64M
Population
2.6M
Immigrants
1M
Emigrants
+1.6M
Inflow
1 in every 25 people in South Africa was born abroad
The #26 largest immigrant destination worldwide
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in South Africa
Where people come from
Where people move to
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
849.5K immigrants · 295.4K emigrants
1995
- Mozambique overtook United Kingdom as the largest source of new arrivals
- Surge of immigrants from Mozambique — 158.3K new arrivals
2000
- Rose into the 3 biggest immigrant destinations in Africa
2005
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 42%
- The foreign-born population passed 1M residents
- The diaspora abroad passed 500K people
2010
- Zimbabwe overtook Mozambique as the largest source of new arrivals
- Surge of immigrants from Zimbabwe — 291.6K new arrivals
Today
- The diaspora abroad passed 1M people
- Since 1990: 1.7M more foreign-born residents and 710.4K more citizens living abroad