South Africa - International migrant stock

International migrant stock, total

The value for International migrant stock, total in South Africa was 3,142,511 as of 2015. As the graph below shows, over the past 55 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 3,142,511 in 2015 and a minimum value of 927,656 in 1960.

Definition: International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Source: United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2012 Revision.

See also:

Year Value
1960 927,656
1965 945,162
1970 961,496
1975 962,371
1980 983,303
1985 1,808,198
1990 1,163,883
1995 1,003,807
2000 1,001,825
2005 1,210,936
2010 1,943,099
2015 3,142,511

International migrant stock (% of population)

International migrant stock (% of population) in South Africa was 5.77 as of 2015. Its highest value over the past 25 years was 5.77 in 2015, while its lowest value was 2.23 in 2000.

Definition: International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Source: United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2008 Revision.

See also:

Year Value
1990 3.16
1995 2.42
2000 2.23
2005 2.50
2010 3.76
2015 5.77

Classification

Topic: Labor & Social Protection Indicators

Sub-Topic: Migration