How Many Foreigners Are in South Africa?
– July 7, 2026
4 min read
Official data show that South Africa has surprisingly few migrants, as a share of the population, compared to many other economies, while those who are here are likely a net benefit to the economy.
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Last week major protests against illegal immigrants were expected to be held in South Africa. There had been concerns that the protests could rival what happened in previous outbreaks of violence in South Africa, and see widespread property destruction and casualties. However, the day passed relatively calmly, with isolated incidents, but nothing approaching the levels of violence and destruction seen in previous widespread unrest in post-apartheid South Africa, such as in 2008, 2015, and 2021
The protests were ostensibly over foreigners being in South Africa illegally, with claims that they take jobs and opportunities from South Africans
At the same time there have been extraordinary claims made about the numbers of foreigners living in South Africa. Herman Mashaba, the leader of ActionSA, said in 2020 that there were 15 million undocumented migrants in South Africa, a claim which he had to subsequently retract
But how many foreigners are there in South Africa?
According to a Migration Statistics Report from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), based on its 2022/23 Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) there were three million foreigners in South Africa for that period, equivalent to about 5.1% of the population
Most migrants to South Africa come from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). About 63.2% of immigrants come from other Southern African countries, while 25.4% are from elsewhere in Africa. About 11.4% come from non-African countries
The average household income of immigrants in South Africa was also marginally higher than that of the average South African, according to the Migration Statistics Report. Average household income for international migrants in South Africa was R208 013, compared to an average household income of R199 856
An earlier Census estimate, from 2022, had found that there were about 2.4 million foreign migrants in South Africa
According to the Census, nearly half of all migrants in South Africa were Zimbabwean, accounting for 48.2% of all immigrants, followed by Mozambique (20.0% of all migrants), Lesotho (10.9%), Malawi (9.5%), and the United Kingdom (2.9%)
Figures from the United Nations (UN) suggested that in 2024 there were about 2.6 million foreigners in South Africa, accounting for about 4.1% of the population, which is similar to what Stats SA’s Migration Statistics Report and the 2022 Census found
Overall, migration is an economic benefit, generally speaking, and South Africa is no exception. If the various estimates at hand are at all accurate, and it’s likely they are, then South Africa’s overall stock of migrants is also fairly low, compared to many other countries around the world. There are about 130 countries in the world where, as a proportion, foreigners account for more of the population than they do in South Africa
In addition, properly managed, migration can be a regional influence. Migrants rent homes, buy food, use taxis, pay school fees, buy airtime, start businesses, employ people, and help link South Africa to the wider African and global economy
There is also a hard economic reality. South Africa is a low-growth country with deep labour market problems, but many migrants are young, mobile, and economically active. People who leave their home countries to seek work elsewhere are often among the most determined people in their communities. They take risks, build networks, fill labour gaps, enter difficult sectors such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, retail, security, hospitality, and informal trade, and in many cases create small businesses of their own.
In a country with high unemployment and failing governance, migrants have become a scapegoat for many of South Africa’s problems. However, migration, including that of undocumented people, often has a net positive economic impact, because illegal migrants, especially, exist outside the regulatory constraints of the state
A dated report, drafted by Rian Malan nearly a decade ago for the Institute of Race Relations, which investigated Ethiopian migrants to South Africa, argued that migration acts as a great “Darwinian selector” because the journey to South Africa is so perilous the migrants who successfully make it represent the “best, brightest, and toughest” individuals. That would seem to accord with a lot of evidence that migrants in South Africa have created jobs and businesses that would not have existed without them, and therefore, rather than being a drain on the state, are a case study of how to make it, despite the state, which should be broadly studied to identify lessons that South Africans might look to replicate.
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