Living in Zambia

In Zambia the low pay reads differently once you account for how cheap life is, with costs among the lowest in the world and tax leaving most of what you earn, so what remains each month is modest but real. English is widely used, which removes the language barrier that complicates so much of the region. What stays difficult is the first foothold, since hiring leans on who you know and an arriving professional has to work to be seen.

For a country of more than 21 million, Zambia takes in few migrants: foreign-born residents number about 221.1K, roughly 1% of the population. Those who do arrive come mainly from the region — DR Congo, Angola, and Zimbabwe lead — and the foreign-born count has grown 90% over the past decade off that low base, keeping Zambia a modest net receiver.