South Africa vs United Arab Emirates: Net migration

South Africa

146,370

in 2025

United Arab Emirates

158,634

in 2025

South Africa rank

9th

United Arab Emirates rank

8th

Net migration over time

South Africa
United Arab Emirates

How they compare

United Arab Emirates currently reports 158,634 against 146,370 in South Africa, a difference of 12,264.

That makes United Arab Emirates's figure about 1.1 times South Africa's.

The two have swapped places 11 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was South Africa ahead.

Globally, South Africa ranks 9th and United Arab Emirates ranks 8th of 215 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Net migration
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 264 places, 17,424 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens.