--- title: "International migration from sub-Saharan Africa has grown dramatically since 2010" description: "Sub-Saharan African nations account for nine of the 10 fastest growing international migrant populations since 2010." date: "2018-02-28" authors: - name: "Phillip Connor" job_title: "Former Senior Researcher" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/phillip-connor/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/02/28/international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010/" categories: - "Immigrant Populations" - "Immigration & Migration" --- # International migration from sub-Saharan Africa has grown dramatically since 2010 [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/02/FT_18.02.22_AfricanMigration_top10.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/02/28/international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010/ft_18-02-22_africanmigration_top10/) 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](http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates17.shtml) data on the number of emigrants, or people living outside their country of birth. 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. [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/PHGMBD_18.02.27_migration_map_promo_260px-1.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/02/28/global-migrant-stocks/) #### Explore our [updated interactive map](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/02/28/global-migrant-stocks/) based on United Nations Population Division data. 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. Some 25 million sub-Saharan migrants lived outside their countries of birth in 2017. (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.) 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%). [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/02/FT_18.02.22_AfricanMigration_destinations.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/02/28/international-migration-from-sub-saharan-africa-has-grown-dramatically-since-2010/ft_18-02-22_africanmigration_destinations/) 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](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/02/14/african-immigrant-population-in-u-s-steadily-climbs/) 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. 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. 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](http://time.com/5042560/libya-slave-trade/) 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](https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/libya-migrant-auctions/index.html). Sub-Saharan emigrants are only part of Africa’s international migration story. North African nations have also experienced decades of [significant outmigration](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240600843089) 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’s largest corridor – Mexico to the U.S. Some 12 million Mexican immigrants live in the U.S. as of 2017. Looking ahead, the number of international migrants from Africa* as a whole *is expected to increase in coming decades, due in part to [the continent’s growing population](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.30.4.57). How receiving nations will respond remains to be seen. Currently, Europe is sending [money for development ](https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/regions/africa/eu-emergency-trust-fund-africa_en)to assist African countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has [reduced the number of refugees](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2017/10/12/u-s-resettles-fewer-refugees-even-as-global-number-of-displaced-people-grows/) it resettles and [proposed cutting back](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-wants-immigration-makes-america-stronger-safer/) on other [legal pathways](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/02/26/key-facts-about-u-s-immigration-policies-and-proposed-changes/) to the U.S. *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.*