South African diaspora
The South African diaspora consists of South African emigrants and their descendants living outside South Africa. The largest concentrations of South African emigrants are to be found in the United Kingdom, followed by Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Canada. At the time of the 2001 UK Census, some 141,405 South-African born people were present in the UK. In Australia, there were 145,683 South African-born people living in the country at the moment of the 2011 Census, having an increase compared with those 78,444 recorded by the 2001 Census. The 2000 United States Census identified 68,290 South African-born people.
According to the most recent data compiled by Statistics South Africa, between 2006 and 2016 the most popular overseas destinations for South African émigrés were: 1. Australia, 2. United Kingdom, 3. United States, 4. New Zealand, 5. Germany, 6. American Samoa , 7. United Arab Emirates, 8. Cuba, 9. Canada, and 10. China.
Many White South Africans, most of them skilled, left the country following the 1994 election that represented the end of the Apartheid era, mostly due to a fear of violent crime and a reluctance to live as a minority under a majority black government. Post 1994, there was a boom in black owned businesses aided by government affirmative action programs, and non-whites started to contribute more to the economy of democratic South Africa. Also many other South Africans, especially those of colour remained in exile even post apartheid.
