Zimbabwe News Update
newzwire
3 min read
the surge in zimbabweans moving to the uk will make britain the biggest source of money sent home through official channels this year, overtaking south africa for the first time, according to treasury estimates.south africa, which hosts the largest zimbabwean diaspora community, has long topped remittance inflows.
its 2022 census counted just over one million zimbabweans in the country, though the true number could be higher.finance minister mthuli ncube told mps at a pre-budget seminar that remittances coming via official channels are expected to reach us$2.7 billion in 2025, up from us$2.57 billion in 2024.“growth in remittances has remained strong, from us$922 million in 2019 to us$2.58 billion in 2024 and further projected to surpass us$2.72 billion in 2025, representing a cumulative growth of 195% between 2019 and 2024. in 2026, remittances are projected to grow further to us$2.75 billion,” ncube said.of the projected us$2.72 billion this year, 28.6% is expected to come from the uk, overtaking south africa’s 27.5%.
the us will contribute 11.2%, followed by australia (5.5%) and botswana (2%).the shift reflects the rapid rise in zimbabwean migration to the uk, especially among health workers. in the year to june 2024, 36,000 zimbabweans moved to the uk, up from 32,000 the previous year, according to the uk’s office for national statistics. that placed zimbabweans among the top five non-eu nationalities for long-term migration to britain. but tougher immigration rules have since slowed arrivals to around 16,000 over the same period this year, data shows. the surge in zimbabweans moving to the uk will make britain the biggest source of money sent home through official channels this year, overtaking south africa for the first time, according to treasury estimates.
south africa, which hosts the largest zimbabwean diaspora community, has long topped remittance inflows. its 2022 census counted just over one million zimbabweans in the country, though the true number could be higher. finance minister mthuli ncube told mps at a pre-budget seminar that remittances coming via official channels are expected to reach us$2.7 billion in 2025, up from us$2.57 billion in 2024. “growth in remittances has remained strong, from us$922 million in 2019 to us$2.58 billion in 2024 and further projected to surpass us$2.72 billion in 2025, representing a cumulative growth of 195% between 2019 and 2024. in 2026, remittances are projected to grow further to us$2.75 billion,” ncube said.
of the projected us$2.72 billion this year, 28.6% is expected to come from the uk, overtaking south africa’s 27.5%. the us will contribute 11.2%, followed by australia (5.5%) and botswana (2%). the shift reflects the rapid rise in zimbabwean migration to the uk, especially among health workers. in the year to june 2024, 36,000 zimbabweans moved to the uk, up from 32,000 the previous year, according to the uk’s office for national statistics. that placed zimbabweans among the top five non-eu nationalities for long-term migration to britain. but tougher immigration rules have since slowed arrivals to around 16,000 over the same period this year, data shows. source: newzwire
