Is South Africa hemorrhaging emigrants to the US at a higher rate than other countries? Not really. The 30 806 South Africans who obtained green cards 2004-13 represent 0.058% of South Africa’s current population based on World Bank figures. 143 of 192 countries surrendered a larger proportion of their populations to the US over that period. South Africa’s US-bound exodus was on par with that of Belgium (0.059%), Japan(0.055%), Austria (0.054%) and India (0.054%). Here’s the full list.
| Country | Current Population | Number of citizens receiving green cards 2004-13 | Green card recipients 2004-13 as percentage of current population |
| Guyana | 799613 | 69,367 | 8.675 |
| Jamaica | 2715000 | 196,978 | 7.255 |
| Grenada | 105897 | 7,401 | 6.989 |
| Bhutan | 753947 | 36,211 | 4.803 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 89985 | 4,128 | 4.587 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1341151 | 60,224 | 4.490 |
| Dominica | 72003 | 3,189 | 4.429 |
| Dominican Republic | 10403761 | 388,250 | 3.732 |
| Tonga | 105323 | 3,630 | 3.447 |
| Cape Verde | 498897 | 17,055 | 3.419 |
| El Salvador | 6340454 | 215,632 | 3.401 |
| Cuba | 11265629 | 354,985 | 3.151 |
| Belize | 331900 | 9,853 | 2.969 |
| Barbados | 284644 | 6,120 | 2.150 |
| Haiti | 10317461 | 219,495 | 2.127 |
| Bahamas, The | 377374 | 6,871 | 1.821 |
| Albania | 2773620 | 49,202 | 1.774 |
| Bermuda | 65024 | 1,000 | 1.538 |
| Fiji | 881065 | 13,127 | 1.490 |
| Mexico | 122332399 | 1,578,154 | 1.290 |
| Samoa | 190372 | 2,387 | 1.254 |
| Liberia | 4294077 | 49,891 | 1.162 |
| Armenia | 2976566 | 33,485 | 1.125 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 33098 | 353 | 1.067 |
| Guatemala | 15468203 | 148,272 | 0.959 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3829307 | 36,312 | 0.948 |
| Honduras | 8097688 | 69,650 | 0.860 |
| Marshall Islands | 52634 | 439 | 0.834 |
| Lebanon | 4467390 | 36,979 | 0.828 |
| Cayman Islands | 58435 | 443 | 0.758 |
| Ecuador | 15737878 | 116,290 | 0.739 |
| Somalia | 10495583 | 67,583 | 0.644 |
| Moldova | 3559000 | 22,137 | 0.622 |
| Philippines | 98393574 | 606,810 | 0.617 |
| Jordan | 6459000 | 39,383 | 0.610 |
| Israel | 8059400 | 48,307 | 0.599 |
| Nicaragua | 6080478 | 35,986 | 0.592 |
| Colombia | 48321405 | 265,908 | 0.550 |
| Palau | 20918 | 106 | 0.507 |
| Peru | 30375603 | 152,512 | 0.502 |
| Macedonia, FYR | 2107158 | 10,466 | 0.497 |
| Bulgaria | 7265115 | 35,305 | 0.486 |
| Lithuania | 2956121 | 13,878 | 0.469 |
| Korea, Rep. | 50219669 | 234,707 | 0.467 |
| Costa Rica | 4872166 | 22,589 | 0.464 |
| Gambia, The | 1849285 | 8,451 | 0.457 |
| Canada | 35158304 | 154,639 | 0.440 |
| Aruba | 102911 | 440 | 0.428 |
| Panama | 3864170 | 16,475 | 0.426 |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | 7187500 | 29,531 | 0.411 |
| Suriname | 539276 | 2,199 | 0.408 |
| Uruguay | 3407062 | 13,859 | 0.407 |
| Sierra Leone | 6092075 | 22,715 | 0.373 |
| Iceland | 323002 | 1,170 | 0.362 |
| Ireland | 4595281 | 16,148 | 0.351 |
| Vietnam | 89708900 | 304,615 | 0.340 |
| Georgia | 4476900 | 14,825 | 0.331 |
| Venezuela, RB | 30405207 | 98,117 | 0.323 |
| Ghana | 25904598 | 82,485 | 0.318 |
| Kuwait | 3368572 | 10,709 | 0.318 |
| Iraq | 33417476 | 103,487 | 0.310 |
| Macao SAR, China | 566375 | 1,554 | 0.274 |
| Latvia | 2013385 | 5,453 | 0.271 |
| Poland | 38530725 | 101,427 | 0.263 |
| Ukraine | 45489600 | 119,682 | 0.263 |
| Congo, Rep. | 4447632 | 11,678 | 0.263 |
| Eritrea | 6333135 | 15,882 | 0.251 |
| Romania | 19963581 | 49,859 | 0.250 |
| Belarus | 9466000 | 23,600 | 0.249 |
| Togo | 6816982 | 16,272 | 0.239 |
| Cambodia | 15135169 | 35,906 | 0.237 |
| Lao PDR | 6769727 | 15,770 | 0.233 |
| Nepal | 27797457 | 63,487 | 0.228 |
| Bolivia | 10671200 | 24,298 | 0.228 |
| United Kingdom | 64097085 | 145,925 | 0.228 |
| Estonia | 1324612 | 3,009 | 0.227 |
| New Zealand | 4470800 | 9,868 | 0.221 |
| Mongolia | 2839073 | 5,857 | 0.206 |
| American Samoa | 55165 | 113 | 0.205 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 77447168 | 135,916 | 0.175 |
| Monaco | 37831 | 66 | 0.174 |
| Croatia | 4252700 | 7,064 | 0.166 |
| Singapore | 5399200 | 8,917 | 0.165 |
| Myanmar | 53259018 | 87,581 | 0.164 |
| Kenya | 44353691 | 71,718 | 0.162 |
| Cameroon | 22253959 | 32,950 | 0.148 |
| Uzbekistan | 30241100 | 44,338 | 0.147 |
| Kosovo | 1824000 | 2,646 | 0.145 |
| Malta | 423282 | 608 | 0.144 |
| Seychelles | 89173 | 125 | 0.140 |
| Ethiopia | 94100756 | 131,874 | 0.140 |
| Montenegro | 621383 | 854 | 0.137 |
| Morocco | 33008150 | 44,277 | 0.134 |
| Slovak Republic | 5414095 | 7,165 | 0.132 |
| Argentina | 41446246 | 53,594 | 0.129 |
| Mauritania | 3889880 | 4,909 | 0.126 |
| Hungary | 9897247 | 12,422 | 0.126 |
| Thailand | 67010502 | 83,792 | 0.125 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 24407381 | 29,940 | 0.123 |
| Cyprus | 1141166 | 1,395 | 0.122 |
| Sweden | 9592552 | 11,615 | 0.121 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 22845550 | 27,193 | 0.119 |
| Chile | 17619708 | 20,741 | 0.118 |
| Australia | 23130900 | 26,678 | 0.115 |
| Azerbaijan | 9416598 | 10,743 | 0.114 |
| Guinea | 11745189 | 12,608 | 0.107 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 82056378 | 86,788 | 0.106 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 5719500 | 6,032 | 0.105 |
| Denmark | 5613706 | 5,543 | 0.099 |
| Switzerland | 8081482 | 7,775 | 0.096 |
| Sri Lanka | 20483000 | 19,221 | 0.094 |
| Kazakhstan | 17037508 | 15,958 | 0.094 |
| Portugal | 10459806 | 9,645 | 0.092 |
| Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 103549 | 95 | 0.092 |
| Bahrain | 1332171 | 1,195 | 0.090 |
| Germany | 80621788 | 71,912 | 0.089 |
| Pakistan | 182142594 | 160,991 | 0.088 |
| Sudan | 37964306 | 33,492 | 0.088 |
| Senegal | 14133280 | 12,410 | 0.088 |
| Greece | 11032328 | 9,521 | 0.086 |
| Bangladesh | 156594962 | 133,000 | 0.085 |
| Afghanistan | 30551674 | 25,512 | 0.084 |
| United Arab Emirates | 9346129 | 7,802 | 0.083 |
| Netherlands | 16804224 | 13,515 | 0.080 |
| French Polynesia | 276831 | 219 | 0.079 |
| Russian Federation | 143499861 | 112,367 | 0.078 |
| Finland | 5439407 | 4,094 | 0.075 |
| Qatar | 2168673 | 1,621 | 0.075 |
| Malaysia | 29716965 | 22,077 | 0.074 |
| Paraguay | 6802295 | 5,001 | 0.074 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 20316086 | 14,829 | 0.073 |
| Nigeria | 173615345 | 126,221 | 0.073 |
| Gabon | 1671711 | 1,215 | 0.073 |
| Norway | 5084190 | 3,693 | 0.073 |
| Mauritius | 1296303 | 898 | 0.069 |
| Zimbabwe | 14149648 | 9,721 | 0.069 |
| Brazil | 200361925 | 132,807 | 0.066 |
| France | 66028467 | 41,398 | 0.063 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 417784 | 257 | 0.062 |
| China | 1357380000 | 821,349 | 0.061 |
| Djibouti | 872932 | 526 | 0.060 |
| Turkey | 74932641 | 44,175 | 0.059 |
| Belgium | 11195138 | 6,587 | 0.059 |
| South Africa | 52981991 | 30,806 | 0.058 |
| Japan | 127338621 | 70,400 | 0.055 |
| Austria | 8473786 | 4,586 | 0.054 |
| India | 1252139596 | 675,276 | 0.054 |
| Luxembourg | 543202 | 278 | 0.051 |
| Kiribati | 102351 | 51 | 0.050 |
| Burundi | 10162532 | 4,852 | 0.048 |
| Libya | 6201521 | 2,849 | 0.046 |
| Italy | 59831093 | 27,257 | 0.046 |
| Saudi Arabia | 28828870 | 12,906 | 0.045 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 192993 | 85 | 0.044 |
| Slovenia | 2060484 | 882 | 0.043 |
| Turkmenistan | 5240072 | 2,211 | 0.042 |
| Tunisia | 10886500 | 4,430 | 0.041 |
| Rwanda | 11776522 | 4,769 | 0.040 |
| Zambia | 14538640 | 5,851 | 0.040 |
| Spain | 46647421 | 18,062 | 0.039 |
| Czech Republic | 10521468 | 3,783 | 0.036 |
| Tajikistan | 8207834 | 2,923 | 0.036 |
| Benin | 10323474 | 3,334 | 0.032 |
| Mali | 15301650 | 4,917 | 0.032 |
| Uganda | 37578876 | 11,625 | 0.031 |
| Algeria | 39208194 | 12,057 | 0.031 |
| Botswana | 2021144 | 561 | 0.028 |
| Serbia | 7163976 | 1,834 | 0.026 |
| Tanzania | 49253126 | 12,598 | 0.026 |
| Oman | 3632444 | 895 | 0.025 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 67513677 | 16,376 | 0.024 |
| Namibia | 2303315 | 534 | 0.023 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 757014 | 151 | 0.020 |
| New Caledonia | 262000 | 52 | 0.020 |
| Central African Republic | 4616417 | 903 | 0.020 |
| Burkina Faso | 16934839 | 3,297 | 0.019 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1704255 | 267 | 0.016 |
| Swaziland | 1249514 | 195 | 0.016 |
| Indonesia | 249865631 | 33,434 | 0.013 |
| Malawi | 16362567 | 1,403 | 0.009 |
| Lesotho | 2074465 | 173 | 0.008 |
| Angola | 21471618 | 1,786 | 0.008 |
| Chad | 12825314 | 956 | 0.007 |
| Solomon Islands | 561231 | 40 | 0.007 |
| Comoros | 734917 | 45 | 0.006 |
| Niger | 17831270 | 968 | 0.005 |
| Papua New Guinea | 7321262 | 256 | 0.003 |
| Madagascar | 22924851 | 724 | 0.003 |
| Mozambique | 25833752 | 687 | 0.003 |
| Korea, Dem. Rep. | 24895480 | 235 | 0.001 |
| United States | 316128839 | 2,209 | 0.001 |
| South Sudan | 11296173 | 76 | 0.001 |
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