{"id":11634,"date":"2018-02-28T12:30:35","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T17:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:15:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:15:46","slug":"international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/02\/28\/international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"International migration from sub-Saharan Africa has grown dramatically since 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Sub-Saharan African nations account for eight of the 10 fastest growing international migrant populations since 2010, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest United Nations<\/a> data on the number of emigrants, or people living outside their country of birth.<\/p>\n\n

The number of emigrants from each of these sub-Saharan countries grew by 50% or more between 2010 and 2017, significantly more than the 17% worldwide average increase for the same period. At the country level, only Syria had a higher rate of growth in its number of people living in other countries.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>

Explore our\u00a0updated interactive map<\/a> based on United Nations Population Division data.<\/h4><\/div>\n\n

The total number of emigrants worldwide from all sub-Saharan African countries combined grew by 31% between 2010 and 2017, outpacing the rate of increase from both the Asia-Pacific (15%) and Latin America-Caribbean (9%) regions. Only the Middle East-North Africa region saw a larger increase (39%) of people living outside of their birth country during the same span, driven largely by people fleeing conflict in Syria.<\/p>\n\n

Some 25 million sub-Saharan migrants lived outside their countries of birth in 2017. <\/span>(Sub-Saharan Africa includes all countries and territories in continental Africa except Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara. Sub-Saharan Africa also includes islands Cape Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, and St. Helena.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The number of international migrants from sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2017 has grown at a higher rate (31%) than in the 2000s (25%) and the 1990s (1%).<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

And as international migration has increased, the breakdown of where sub-Saharan emigrants live has changed. In 1990, 75% of emigrants from the region lived in other sub-Saharan countries, a share that dropped to 68% by 2017. Over the same period, the share of sub-Saharan emigrants who live in the United States climbed from 2% to 6%. This has helped make African immigrants a small but fast-growing<\/a> slice of the overall U.S. immigrant population. As of 2017, nearly 1.5 million sub-Saharan immigrants lived in the U.S., according to UN data.<\/p>\n\n

More substantially, the share of sub-Saharan migrants living in European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland rose from 11% in 1990 to 17% in 2017.<\/p>\n\n

Whether their destination is a neighboring country, Europe or the U.S., many sub-Saharan emigrants face obstacles to relocating. For example, reports indicate hundreds of thousands<\/a> of emigrants from south of the Sahara Desert have gathered in Libya in hopes of crossing the Mediterranean into Europe. Many live in overcrowded, crime-ridden camps while they wait to make the journey, with some allegedly even being sold in slave auctions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Sub-Saharan emigrants are only part of Africa\u2019s international migration story. North African nations have also experienced decades of significant outmigration<\/a> to Europe and other parts of the world. In 2017, about 5.2 million North African immigrants lived in EU countries, Norway and Switzerland, compared with about 3 million in 1990. Despite the large increase, the North Africa-to-Europe migration corridor is dwarfed by the world\u2019s largest corridor \u2013 Mexico to the U.S. Some 12 million Mexican immigrants live in the U.S. as of 2017.<\/p>\n\n

Looking ahead, the number of international migrants from Africa as a whole <\/em>is expected to increase in coming decades, due in part to the continent\u2019s growing population<\/a>. How receiving nations will respond remains to be seen. Currently, Europe is sending money for development <\/a>to assist African countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has reduced the number of refugees<\/a> it resettles and proposed cutting back<\/a> on other legal pathways<\/a> to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n

This is the first in a series of posts, reports and data visualizations from Pew Research Center focused on migration from Africa to the U.S. and Europe.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sub-Saharan African nations account for nine of the 10 fastest growing international migrant populations since 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