{"id":857215,"date":"2026-05-03T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=857215"},"modified":"2026-04-30T17:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:33:22","slug":"south-africans-living-overseas-are-starting-to-think-twice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/857215\/south-africans-living-overseas-are-starting-to-think-twice\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans living overseas are starting to think twice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans are slowly starting to think twice about living abroad, with a small but notable number of expats returning home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a million South Africans live abroad, but some are moving back for several reasons, with a big one being the quality of life back home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Sean Kelly, the director of Parity Wealth Managers, who noted that South Africans are starting to reassess whether staying abroad still makes sense financially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in an interview with 702<\/a><\/strong>, Kelly said there is a noticeable shift underway, with more South Africans who previously emigrated beginning to return home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged that it\u2019s not a mass return yet, with roughly 900,000 South Africans still living abroad in destinations like the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he explained that what is changing is that far more people from that base are now reassessing their lifestyle perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kelly, this marks a shift in mindset. \u201cThe old immigration model was leave South Africa for opportunity,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe new model is to build opportunity globally, but live or retire where life works better financially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, he said that South Africa is seeing a gradual return, which signals a definite change in direction of more people coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key driver behind this trend is the cost of living. \u201cThe main reason is it\u2019s a lot cheaper to live in South Africa than some of these developed markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He highlighted how many South Africans only fully appreciate this after living overseas, noting that \u201cwhen people leave, they realise how good they had it in South Africa.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly also noted that the difference in purchasing power is significant, and that \u201cyour money effectively goes twice as far in South Africa,\u201d allowing for better housing, more space, and a higher standard of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African expats are bringing their international skills with them<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sean Kelly, the director of Parity Wealth Managers.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

He also pointed to the affordability of services and healthcare. \u201cSouth Africa offers high-quality private medical care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that even with medical aid, it is still significantly more affordable than private healthcare in the UK or the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes returning home \u201ca very rational decision\u201d for many weighing up whether to remain in a high-cost environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly also said that the returnees are diverse, including young professionals, families, and retirees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Younger professionals are drawn by flexibility, with \u201c30 to 40% doing some form of remote or hybrid work, meaning they are no longer tied to living overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families are motivated by practicality, as schooling and other needs are up to 40% cheaper in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirees benefit financially the most, as savings built up in stronger currencies allow them to enjoy significantly higher living standards back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly noted the decision to return is both financial and lifestyle-driven, with many deciding that South Africa offers better overall value despite the factors that initially pushed them to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent report compiled by the TEFL Academy showed a similar pattern, with professionals in particular starting to make a move home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TEFL Academy\u2019s Reverse Emigration Among South Africans report<\/a> noted that a growing number of skilled South Africans are returning home after building careers overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report highlighted that many are spending a few years abroad to gain experience and save money before coming back with new skills, global networks and a different perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey respondents indicated that living abroad increased their confidence and adaptability, with an average score of 4.41 out of 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half of the respondents also strongly agreed that their international experience had given them a global perspective that is now a valuable professional asset in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans are slowly starting to think twice about living abroad, with a small but notable number of expats returning home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":857216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[25193,853,25138],"class_list":["post-857215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-parity-wealth-manager","tag-south-africa","tag-tefl-academys-reverse-emigration-among-south-africans-report"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857215"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858660,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857215\/revisions\/858660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}