These two South Africans moved to Australia without even visiting it first – as the number of SA migrants grows

Australia is set to pass the 25 million population mark sometime this month, due to a combination of a growing population and an influx of migrant workers.

This is according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) ‘population clock’, which is determined by adding the same number of births and subtracting the same number of deaths as the previous year, and using an annual forecast of net overseas migration based on Department of Home Affairs’ figures.

The current projection is based on the estimated resident population at 31 December 2017 and assumes growth since then of:

• One birth every 1 minute and 42 seconds,
• One death every 3 minutes and 16 seconds,
• One person arriving to live in Australia every 1 minute and 1 second,
• One Australian resident leaving Australia to live overseas every 1 minute and 51 seconds, leading to
• An overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Accord to the ABS, net overseas migration accounts for 62% of Australia’s growth with the remaining 38% due to natural causes.

Commenting on these stats, the Australian Financial Review spoke to a South African couple, Gracia and Oliver Kabango, who had never even been to Australia before moving to Sydney.

Seeking ‘adventure’ and ‘new career oppurtunities’ Gracia – who works as an assistant finance minister at BDO in Sydney – said that the couple had considered UK as a possible destination but had been put off by the Brexit negotiations.

Despite being unaware of these statistics, Gracia said that she was unsurprised by the amount of migrants who are looking at moving to Australia.

“What I like about Australia is that it is very fluid. There is a lot of space to bring people in,” she said.

“The team I currently work with at BDO has guys from the UK, America, Ireland and there are two South Africans. There is room here to allow foreigners to come and have an experience and potential for Australians to emigrate and have their own experience somewhere else.

Gracia added that newly arrived migrants will likely love Australia as they create their own communities and networks.

“The way the corporate world works now is very global,” she said. “It’s almost a given you will find someone from a different country and that’s always a refreshing connection point,” she said.

South African emigrants

While Australia is enjoying a migrant boom, the high number of people currently leaving the country means that South Africa is currently on track to break emigration records.

This is according to UK visa solutions experts, Move Up, who said that they’ve seen a 22% increase in South Africans interested in relocating to the United Kingdom (UK) over the past two years.

Speaking to 702, legal and financial manager at Financial Emigration Jonty Leon says there has been a huge increase in citizens deciding to leave the country after last year’s announcement by Parliament that there would be a change in tax laws.

He said other contributing factors include education, and a lack of job opportunities.

“The political instability. Looking at the recent comments on land expropriation without compensation, that is all major factors which are pushing South Africans to leave South Africa,” he said.

Read: South Africa on track to break emigration records in 2018: report