The recently released report by the United Kingdom government indicates that Nigeria and Zimbabwe are the top two African countries whose nationals are migrating to the United Kingdom under the skilled-worker and healthcare visa systems.

The report revealed that Nigeria saw a 251% increase in nationals migrating to the UK in 2023 compared to last year. Between March 2021–22, 5 009 Nigerians were granted skilled-worker and healthcare visas and by the same time this year, 12 587 Nigerians had been granted these visas.

The second place to Nigeria is Zimbabwe as revealed in the report that between March 2001-22, 2 630 Zimbabweans were granted the UK visa. By March this year, there had been a 562% increase, representing 14 791 new visas.

Nigeria and Zimbabwe came in second and third place globally, behind India, which has 33% of visa grants.

The African countries on the list include Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

More than 4,000 nurses and doctors have left Zimbabwe since February 2021. The UK is by far the destination of choice: data from the British Home Office in 2022 reveals that Zimbabwe is now in the top five skilled worker visa recipient countries.