South Africans in the United Kingdom include citizens and residents of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

with origins in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Demographics

The

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

recorded 140,201 South African-born people living in the UK. According to the

2011 UK census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

, 186,355 South African-born people were resident in England, 4,668 in Wales, 10,607 in Scotland and 1,847 in Northern Ireland. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that, , 267,000 UK residents had been born in South Africa. Unlike the South Africa itself, the majority of the South African diaspora living in the United Kingdom are

White South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settle ...

. 84% of South African-born residents of England and Wales at the time of the 2011 UK Census identified as White, with 44% identifying as

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

. 6% identified as Black, 5% as Asian and 4% as mixed ethnicity. Many are concentrated in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the anecdotal evidence being that many are business and financial people working in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

University town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several s ...

s such as:

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

also show significant clusters of South African-born students. Many young people with British family ties have come over the years to work in the UK, including in the public services.

Notable South Africans in the United Kingdom

This list includes those who were born in South Africa and those who were born in another country but primarily raised in South Africa. South African born British people have contributed heavily in sports, especially in Commonwealth sports such as Cricket and Rugby. 17 South African born players have played for the England national cricket team and over a dozen have played for both the England and Scotland national Rugby Union teams collectively.

British people of South African ancestry

References

{{South African diaspora African diaspora in the United Kingdom + Immigration to the United Kingdom by country of origin