African countries that lost the most people to emigration

The movement of people from their countries of origin, especially in Africa, to other countries in search of better economic opportunities is fast becoming an economic issue in the continent.

According to the Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM), as of 2020, there were about 175 million migrants worldwide with about 9% (16.3 million) of those being Africans.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s report on Africa and Europe, Facts and Figures on African Migrations however, notes that African migrants are not overwhelming Europe as widely reported, adding that the majority of African migrants mainly migrate within Africa.

This data sourced from the UN’s World Population Prospects 2024 maps out African countries that have lost the most number of people by net migration (i.e., having more emigrants than immigrants), in 2023.

The northeastern African country, Sudan, posted a net migration number in the negative millions (-1.35 million), making it the African country with the largest emigration status second only to Pakistan which takes the first position globally with a negative migration figure of 1.6 million people.

Sudan’s position has been linked to the ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a situation that has created horrendous levels of violence for civilians in the country.

For other countries, the challenging economy and poor job market has become a challenge to the booming youth population added with the political instability in the region, human rights violations, ethnic tensions, and civil conflicts which have all significantly fuelled the fast rising emigration status in African countries.