According to the results of the 2016 PPS Student Confidence Index (SCI) 54 percent of students interviewed said they planned to move abroad within at least five years following graduation. The study was conducted among 1,500 South African students across regions and races in their fourth-year of study or above. They were all studying at a university or a university of technology towards a profession-specific degree, such as engineering, medicine, law or accounting.

PPS’s technical marketing specialist Motshabi Nomvethe says the current economic environment and the gloomy outlook for employment in South Africa have no small part to play in students looking at overseas opportunities. “The latest figures from the Stats SA Labour Force Survey indicate that an estimated 26.7 percent of South Africa’s population are unemployed. These figures could motivate students to seek employment opportunities abroad.”

Nomvethe says despite professionals planning to leave the country, ways must be found to encourage them to return. Once they had acquired international expertise they can plough knowledge back into the local economy.

The study further reveals that 69 percent of respondents actively take steps to keep updated about economic and political issues in South Africa. Students said they read the news and get involved in social media debates.

Africa News Agency quotes the Expat Insider’s InterNations Survey conducted last year, with states that the top three reasons for South Africans to move abroad were personal safety, the cost of living, and bad labour market prospects.