In South Africa in 2019, there were 4.2 million foreign migrants. This group, which makes up around 7.2% of the whole population, includes about 2 million women. The pace of global net migration is rising by 2.5%. Since post-colonialism, there has been an increase in the number of female immigrants. The most present age groups among both male and female migrants range from 25 to 34 and 35–44. In 2019, there were about 370 000 refugees in South Africa, the majority of whom are from surrounding Sub-Saharan African nations.
Black Africans make up 79.6% of the population and include recent immigrants from other regions of Africa as well as members of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Tsonga, Venda, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, and Swazi ethnic groups (particularly Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo). White people make up 9.1% of the population. They are descended from European immigrants who came to South Africa in the 20th century, as well as Portuguese who left the former Portuguese colonies of southern Africa (Angola and Mozambique) after their independence in the mid-1970s. White people first arrived at the Cape in the mid- to late 17th century. The majority of mixed-race Coloureds (8.8%) are descended from the early settlers, their slaves, and the native populations.
How many foreign nationals living illegally in South Africa?
A wide range of estimates have been reported. 6.2 million foreigners were counted in the 2011 census by Statistics South Africa, while the organization’s 2015 estimate places the number of undocumented migrants between 1,200,000 and 1,500,000.
Where do foreigners reside most often in South Africa?
While Durban had the highest quality of life, Cape Town continued to be the city that foreigners chose to live in. Only three South African cities—Durban (85th), Cape Town (92nd), and Johannesburg—made the list of the top 450 cities in the world (95th).
How many immigrants live in South Africa?
From a little over 2 million in 2010 to over 4 million in 2019, the number of foreign migrants in South Africa grew before declining to about 2.9 million by the middle of 2020. Approximately 4.8% of South Africa’s overall population is represented by this.
