…over 150k emigrants from Masvingo scattered around the world
Beverly Bizeki
The 2022 National Population and Housing census has revealed that Masvingo province has the highest number of emigrants with a record 153 384 out of a total of 908 914 (nationally) people living abroad.
In a preliminary report released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency on September 6 in Harare, Masvingo has 153 384 emigrants of which 104 716 are males whilst 48 668 are females followed by Matabeleland South that has 81 656 Males and 61 656 Females.
Zimstat director general Dr Taguma Mahonde confirmed the development in the report.
“The number of emigrants was increasing since the 1980s. There was a sharp increase on the number of emigrants between 1980 and 1990 that was followed up by a sharp decline between 1990 and 2000. There was a steady increase between 2001 and 2015.
“The highest numbers of emigrants were reported between 2020 and 2021,” he said.
The report showed that most people left the country for employment reasons with both provinces having the highest numbers of emigrants seeking employment outside the country.
The report follows the July 26 one that Masvingo has the highest number of females more than males with men dominating the number of emigrants at the same time in the same province.
The report also showed that generally there was a rise in the number of emigrants since 1980 with most people migrating between 2020 to 2021.
It was also discovered in the same report that Harare and Bulawayo had the highest number of internal migrations.
“Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces had relatively more people who had emigrated for employment purposes than any other provinces.
“Harare and Bulawayo provinces had relatively more people who had emigrated for education or training purposes,” he added.
