South Africa’s migrant population, more than half of whom live in Gauteng, represents a big share of the country’s urban workforce.
In the 2022/23 financial year, this group generated household income of R433bn, largely through salaries, underscoring the substantial economic contribution made by foreign nationals living and working in the country.
According to the latest migration statistics report, based on the 2022/23 income and expenditure survey released last week, there are about 3-million migrants in the country, accounting for about 5% of the population. More than 50% of these migrants live in Gauteng.
The survey shows that of the R433bn earned by migrant families, R334bn came in the form of salaries. Non-migrant households recorded the highest total income of R2.486-trillion.
The data also shows that of the immigrants in South Africa, 63.6% were from the Southern African Development Community region, followed by immigrants from the rest of Africa with 25.5%. Gauteng is home to 51.2% of migrants, with Joburg accounting for the largest share of immigrant-headed households.
“The results show immigration trends in South Africa from 1922 to 2023. From 1922 to the late 1980s, the number of immigrants who indicated that they moved to South Africa in those years was very low, and the trend was stable,” the study reads.
“From the 1990s onwards, there was a noticeable increase in the number of immigrants in South Africa, with occasional peaks. In addition, the number of persons who indicated that they moved to South Africa in the 2000s was very high. Noticeably, the highest number of immigrants indicated 2022 (183,872) as the year in which they arrived in South Africa.”
Last year the government crafted the country’s first national labour migration policy, which proposed aggressive recruitment among the diaspora and foreign professionals in critically affected sectors and professions, with complementing standard work visa applications.
This is as policymakers acknowledge that a rising number of highly qualified South Africans, from the public and private sectors, are leaving the country to seek experience or settle permanently abroad, making South Africa one of the largest sources of African graduates globally.
Hiring measures
To this end, the department of employment & labour, in co-ordination with the department of international relations & co-operation and in consultation and collaboration with employers’ organisations, will explore several measures to attract skilled foreign nationals.
It will include job adverts relayed by embassies, facilitation of job fairs abroad, subsidisation of immigration costs, and the fast-tracking of immigration procedures.
The hiring of illegal immigrants across several industries has been a thorny issue in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa in the state of the nation address last month warned that employers who hire foreign nationals without the required permits or visas will face the full force of the law.
A study released by Afrobarometer in January shows that four in 10 South Africans say people in Southern Africa should be able to move freely across international borders to trade or work in other countries, while 56% of the people surveyed said the government should limit people’s cross-border movement.
About 80% of the survey respondents said the government should reduce the number of foreign job seekers it allows to enter the country.
The Stats SA survey said there were several reasons why foreign nationals picked South Africa as their preferred destination.
“Migration in South Africa is influenced by a combination of economic, social, political and environmental factors. These drivers shape both internal migration (movement within the country) and international migration (people moving into or out of South Africa),” the survey reads.
“The purpose of this report is to present insights and statistics on the socio-demographic patterns of immigrants, internal migrants and non-migrants in South Africa.
“The report provides analytical information on how migration affects the socioeconomic well-being of individuals and households, including effects on income, education and consumption patterns.”
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