How Many South Africans Are Emigrating? A Decade of Brain Drain in Statistics

The number of South Africans living abroad grew by 82% between 2000 and 2020. Between 2015 and 2020 alone, 128,347 additional South Africans joined the diaspora — three times as many as the preceding five-year period.

Healthcare

Doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals are leaving at crisis rates. The UK’s NHS actively recruits South African-trained medical staff. Canadian immigration consultant reports 17,000 SA healthcare enquiries in a single period. Nearly 85% of SA’s population has no medical insurance — doctors face impossible workloads in the public sector.

Aviation

South Africa’s aviation industry has experienced severe brain drain as airlines globally compete for pilots, engineers, and air traffic controllers. The Afrobarometer data identified aviation as one of the hardest-hit sectors. International operators offering significantly higher rand-equivalent salaries have created a systematic recruitment pipeline from SA to overseas.

Software & IT

Tech talent is uniquely mobile — software developers and IT professionals can work remotely for international employers while residing anywhere. Many South African tech workers initially take remote positions for international companies while still in SA, then transition to emigration. Salary multiples of 5–10× make this the most financially compelling emigration case.

Engineering

Engineering bodies consistently identify significant losses of South African-trained engineers, particularly mid-career professionals aged 45–60 — taking decades of practical experience that cannot be quickly replaced. Infrastructure dysfunction (water, electricity, roads) makes engineering careers in SA increasingly demoralising.

Education

Teacher emigration — the “educator exodus” — has been documented through multiple surveys. Low salaries relative to international counterparts, classroom safety concerns, and poor school infrastructure are drivers. UK, Australia, and Canada actively recruit SA-trained teachers, who are generally well-regarded internationally.

Legal, Finance & Accountancy

South African-qualified lawyers, chartered accountants, and financial professionals are internationally recognised and increasingly recruit to UK, Australia, and Mauritius-based financial services. Mauritius has become a specific destination for SA-trained financial professionals managing offshore structures for both SA clients and international firms.

Property market impact

Emigrating households sell their properties — a net supply injection into the market. Estate agents consistently track this as a driver of listings, particularly in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs (Sandton, Fourways, Northcliff) and Atlantic Seaboard Cape Town. The 2.3 million unit housing shortage means emigration-driven listings are quickly absorbed, supporting prices — but in specific suburbs, emigrant selling clusters can create micro-level price softness.

Furniture and household goods market impact

An emigrating household typically disposes of most of its furniture before departure — selling, donating, or placing in storage. This creates both a secondary supply of used furniture and, for those who remain, purchasing opportunities. More significantly, the semigration wave — which is in part driven by the same emotional drivers as emigration — directly stimulates furniture purchasing as hundreds of thousands of households relocate internally and refurnish.

Skills shortage and service delivery impact

The departure of doctors, engineers, and educators directly degrades the public services that all South Africans rely on — a feedback loop that potentially accelerates further emigration. The Stats SA Migration Profile specifically notes that South Africa sees steady emigration of healthcare professionals, creating demand for a comprehensive policy response.

Remittances as a partial offset

South Africans abroad send significant remittances home. UN data shows remittance flows to Africa doubled in the decade to 2022, reaching £80 billion — and South Africa is one of the continent’s largest remittance recipients. These inflows support families, fund property purchases, and contribute to consumer spending for those who remain — a partial economic offset to the brain drain.

How many South Africans have emigrated?

According to UN DESA data cited in the Stats SA Migration Profile Report 2023, 914,901 South African citizens were residing abroad as of 2020 — the latest available UN DESA figure. This number has been growing consistently since 2000, when it stood at 501,600. Using a broader measure that includes naturalised citizens and long-term residents of SA origin, PPS estimates over 2 million South Africans now live abroad.

Where do most South Africans emigrate to?

The most popular destinations are the United Kingdom (largest SA diaspora globally, ~250,000), Australia (~200,000), the United States, New Zealand, and Canada. Europe overall attracts 39.3% of SA migrants. In 2022, Portugal and Mauritius emerged as significant new destinations. North America is the most preferred destination among potential future emigrants, according to the Afrobarometer 2024 survey.

Is South Africa emigration accelerating?

Yes — markedly. Between 2010 and 2015, approximately 43,000 people emigrated. Between 2015 and 2020, that figure jumped to over 128,000 — three times as many in the same period. The acceleration coincides with intensifying load-shedding, political instability during the state capture era, rising crime perception, and increasingly accessible skilled migration pathways in destination countries. The 2024 Afrobarometer found 27% of SA adults have considered emigrating — with the figure reaching 42% among the wealthiest segment.

Which professions are most affected by South Africa’s brain drain?

The most heavily affected sectors are healthcare (doctors, nurses), aviation, software and IT, engineering, education, and legal/financial services. The PPS 2022/23 Student Confidence Index found 90% of SA students working toward professional degrees want to live and work abroad. The Afrobarometer 2024 identifies emigration intent as directly proportional to education level — rising from 10% among those with primary education to 38% among university graduates.

Are South Africans returning home?

The much-discussed “brain regain” appears, according to the Daily Maverick’s April 2024 analysis of the Stats SA Migration Profile, to be significantly overstated. While anecdotal accounts from estate agencies and moving companies suggest returns are occurring, the actual data shows the diaspora growing — not shrinking. The proportion of South Africans returning from the UK, Australia, and US is declining, not rising. While 67% of students who want to work abroad say they plan to eventually return, this is an intention expressed by 22-year-olds — not a demonstrated behavioural pattern.

The Data Does Not Lie — But It Does Not Tell the Whole Story Either

The emigration statistics are unambiguous in their direction: more South Africans are leaving, the pace is accelerating, and the people leaving are disproportionately the most educated, most skilled, and most economically productive. The 914,901 citizens recorded abroad in 2020 is almost certainly a significant undercount of the true diaspora.

What the statistics cannot capture is why roughly 60 million South Africans remain — because most do. The semigration data tells a different story alongside the emigration story: hundreds of thousands of South Africans are also making the active decision to stay, but to relocate to better-governed parts of the country. Both stories are true. Both matter. And both shape the property market, the labour market, and the household goods economy in ways that every South African consumer and business owner should understand.

Whether You Are Staying, Semigrating, or Starting Fresh

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