New emigration statistics show that an increasing number of South Africans are leaving for Australia and New Zealand.

This is backed by local information from immigration companies who have also reported a rise in the number of queries from South Africans looking to move their families overseas.

The Department of Home Affairs does not keep record of South Africans who emigrate permanently; however, receiver countries do keep track of immigrants, which gives an indication of how many people are actually leaving.

This data shows that the UK is still the most popular choice for South African immigrants, while a growing number are also choosing to settle in Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand

The latest data from Stats NZ shows that there has been a sharp rise in South African migrants, with 8,200 people moving to the country between April 2018 and April 2019.

StatsNZ classifies migrants as overseas residents who arrive in New Zealand and cumulatively spend 12 of the next 16 months in the country. The duration of stay is based on observed travel histories from linked arrival and departure records.

This means that approximately South Africans 683 migrated to New Zealand every month over the last year – or just over 22 people each day.

South Africans choose to move to New Zealand for numerous reasons, most notably because it’s safe, is child-friendly, and has many job opportunities.

Historically these South Africans have entered the country on residence and work visas; however, the data shows that there has also been an increase in student visa-arrivals in recent years.

Australia

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that there are approximately 189,000 South African-born people currently living in Australia.

This number has steadily increased over the past decade, with Melbourne and Sydney being the most popular destinations.

This increase is reflected in the number of ‘permanent additions’ to Australia’s resident population in the 2017-2018 financial year. This includes persons who were in Australia on a temporary basis and were granted a permanent visa,

This also includes the number of people who have obtained a permanent visa onshore, the number of settler arrivals during a given time period, and the number of people who have been granted a permanent protection visa onshore.

Combined this added to a total of 5,397 South Africans over 2016/17 time period and 2,907 South Africans over the 2017/2018 period.

Read: New changes will make it easier for South Africans to emigrate to the UK