If you have started thinking about immigrating you may have also wondered where in the world other South Africans, who were once in your shoes, found happiness. You probably wondered in which countries you and your family would fit in best and thought about how life in that country would be. No doubt you considered which country held the best prospects for you and your children’s future and perhaps you have a destination in mind already.
Finding the best fit for your particular lifestyle goals is something that requires research and the best way to do that is by speaking to migrants about their experience. Of course it is also important to make sure you meet a country’s migration requirements before you go through the proses – luckily with more than a quarter of a million South Africans happily living in Australia and Canada you can rest assured that either country could be a great fit for you and your family!
According to a new report released by the American think tank Pew Research ‘Origins and Destinations of the World’s Migrants from 1990-2017’ more than 200 000 South Africans moved Down Under in the past 28 years with close to 55 000 South Africans trading their flip flops for Canadian snow shoes.
The data is based on international migrant data published by the United Nations. The United Nations uses a taxonomy of nations and territories and classifies migrants born in territories as international migrants, even if their citizenship is different from their territory of birth.
When looking at South Africa’s data, Pew Research found that at least 900,000 people born in South Africa were currently living in other countries in 2017.
While the United Kingdom seems to be most popular it is often just an easier move for South Africans whom have British Ancestral visa rights. Those without British connections are however placing sunny laid back and progressive Australia or well organized and immaculately governed Canada at the top end of their countries of interest.
In 2017 the Top 5 rankings were as follows
| Country | Migrants | |
| 1. | United Kingdom | 210 000 |
| 2. | Australia | 190 000 |
| 3. | United States | 100 000 |
| 4. | New Zealand | 60 000 |
| 5. | Canada | 50 000 |
Source: BusinessTech