One in ten UK citizens opt to live broad

A report published today has indicated that around 5.5 million British-born people are living overseas.

More than 198,000 British nationals moved overseas last year, bringing the total number of Brits abroad to more than 5.5 million, according to new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

The report says that a strong economy at home has encouraged emigration and that very few Britons leave because they think 'the country has gone to the dogs'.

The Foreign Office sponsored report shows that almost one in ten Britons now lives abroad and that a British national emigrates every three minutes. The report predicts that another one million Brits will move abroad over the next five years.

The report shows that Britain has more people living abroad than almost any other country.

The top 10 countries where Brits live, together accounting for around 75% of all Brits living abroad, are:

• Australia 1.3 million
• Spain 760,000
• USA 680,000
• Canada 600,000
• Ireland 290,000
• New Zealand 215,000
• South Africa 212,000
• France 200,000
• Germany 115,000
• Cyprus 59,000

The report says that Brits living abroad are also more spread out than any other nationals, with more than 10,000 Brits living in 41 countries around the world and another 71 countries with more than 1,000 Brits.

(SP/KMcA)