South African travel in 2026 driven by expat communities

When it comes to outbound travel from South Africa in 2026, a lot of local travellers are visiting expat communities in other parts of the world.

This is what some of the latest data shared by technology services company, VFS Global, tell us.

The company, which specialises in facilitating visa applications in more than 170 countries across the globe, including here in South Africa, recently held a media roundtable to unpack some of the travel trends it has seen develop over the course of 2026.

To that end, VFS Global shared that the total volume of visas applications processed for all categories (tourist, business, student, etc.) to date in 2026 is already at 70 percent of the 2025 volumes. As such, when it comes to this year versus last year, there has been little change in the frequency with which South Africans are travelling abroad.

This is quite notable, especially given the current cost of living crisis that the country finds itself in, so luxuries like overseas travel would normally be placed on the back burner.

As for why there has been no change, some of the other data that VFS Global shared may offer insights. Here, the company pointed out that locations like the UK, Australia, and Canada continue to witness positive trends in application volumes for outbound travel in the year so far. Other key locations include Schengen destinations like the Netherlands and Denmark, which are also seeing positive trends, it added.

If we take the UK, Australia, and Canada in particular, those three countries rank among the highest in the world with a South African expat community. More specifically, the UK and Australia rank first and second in terms of the sizes of expat communities, while Canada ranks sixth.

The UK has upwards of 235 000 South Africans living or working there, while Australia has roughly 230 000, and Canada as many as 52 000. As for the Netherlands, it sits just below Canada in terms of the size of its expat community, with roughly 42 000.

“South Africans continue to demonstrate a strong appetite for international travel, whether for business, education, tourism or visiting family and friends. As demand grows, it is essential that applicants rely only on official information sources and plan their applications well in advance, particularly during peak travel periods,” noted Hariprasad Viswanathan, COO for Sub-Saharan Africa at VFS Global.

Visa applications and travel have come under the spotlight notably in 2026. This is down to an increased desire to rollout digital services by the Department of Home Affairs, as well as more scrutiny over how visas are processed, along with who is entering/leaving our borders.

The rise in geopolitical tensions aside, it looks like expat communities and South African diaspora is a big reason why locals are still travelling in 2026. As the cost of living gets more untenable, it will be interesting if that continues to be the case, or whether South Africans choose other overseas destinations in order to stretch their Rands further.

[Image – Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash]

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