South Africans Thinking About Emigration: Most Educated, Wealthiest, Employed, Young

3 December 2024
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Asafika Mpako and Stephen Ndoma

Most popular destinations are North America, Europe, and elsewhere in Africa.

Key findings

  • About one in four South Africans (27%) say they have considered emigrating, including 10% who have given "a lot" of thought to the idea.  This figure is highest among the wealthiest respondents (42%), the most educated citizens (38%), those holding full-time jobs (36%), and youth (32%).
  • Among those who have considered emigrating, two-thirds (66%) say they are not currently making specific plans or preparations, while 20% say they are planning to move in the next year or two but are not yet making preparations, and 6% say they are already taking concrete steps to move, such as getting a visa.
  • The most popular destinations among potential emigrants are North America (28%) and Europe (17%). About one in seven say they would stay within the Southern Africa region (8%) or elsewhere on the continent (8%).

More than seven in 10 citizens (72%) say they "feel strong ties" with other South Africans, and 63% express the belief that other citizens see them as "South Africans just like them."

According to Statistics South Africa's (2023) Migration Profile Report, the number of citizens living abroad passed 900,000 in 2020, with the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada topping the list of expatriates' most preferred destinations. The main reasons driving their departure included an ailing economy, chronic unemployment, high crime rates, energy instability, staggering inequality, poor delivery of public services, and political and diplomatic uncertainty (BusinessTech, 2023; FinGlobal, 2024).

On the flip side, the move to international shores is encouraged by attractive salary packages and career mobility, safety and security, ease of doing business, free or affordable medical care and/or education, and a chance for parents to improve their children's prospects (BusinessTech, 2021).

The proportion of South African emigrants living in the United States and the United Kingdom has increased by 80% since 2000, and for Australia and New Zealand the figures are even more dramatic, recording increases of 150% and 190%, respectively (Outlier, 2024). Most of the exodus has occurred in the aviation, education, engineering, health care, and software and information technology fields (BusinessTech, 2022; Bhengu, 2023; Erasmus, 2024).

Experts have long warned of a looming crisis related to South Africa's skills shortage, which has been amplified by the emigration of skilled labour (Daily Investor, 2023). And there seems to be no end in sight. The Professional Provident Society (2023) Student Confidence Index Report for 2022/2023, which surveyed 2,400 undergraduate and postgraduate students working toward a profession-specific degree at a private or public university, found that 90% of them want to live and work abroad to gain professional experience, although 67% indicate a desire to eventually return to South Africa to contribute to the local economy.

Ahead of International Migrants Day (18 December), this dispatch examines how South Africans feel about emigration.

Findings from Afrobarometer's most recent survey, conducted in 2022, indicate that about one in four South Africans have thought about emigrating. Among those who have considered the idea, about one in 20 say they are already taking concrete preparatory steps, such as getting a visa. Thoughts of emigrating are most common among the most educated citizens, those who are economically well off, those with full-time jobs, and youth. North America is the most preferred destination among potential emigrants, followed by Europe and Australia.

Even so, a large majority of South Africans say they feel strong ties with other South Africans, although this sentiment is somewhat less pronounced among the wealthiest and the best educated respondents.

Asafika Mpako Asafika is the communications coordinator for Southern Africa

Stephen Ndoma Stephen is the assistant project manager for Southern Africa

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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