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, published on December 11th, 2006. 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’.

ippr’s report shows that almost one in ten Britons now lives abroad and that a British national emigrates every three minutes, predicting that another one million British nationals will move abroad over the next five years.

Britain has more people living abroad than almost any other country. The top 10 countries where Brits live, together accounting for around 75 per cent of all Brits living abroad, are:

•     Australia 1.3 million, equivalent to 2 per cent of UK population
•     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

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

Included in the ippr report are the results from local focus groups of British people living abroad, which identifies the inability to speak the local language as one of the biggest barrier to settling into an overseas community. The report also highlights the difference between retired Brits living on the Costa del Sol where less than one out of four speak Spanish, compared to retired Brits in Tuscany where almost three out of four speak Italian. British expats living in countries like Spain and Saudi Arabia also tend to flock together, in contrast to countries like Australia and the USA where they tend to be more dispersed across the country.

The main reasons given by those emigrating or considering emigration from Britain are:

•     Better quality of life, 37 per cent
•     Better weather, 32 per cent
•     Britain too expensive to live in, 24 per cent
•     New job/relocation of job, 13 per cent
•     A new experience/adventure, 13 per cent
•     Do not like Britain/what Britain has become, 12 per cent
•     Start a new life, 9 per cent
•     Have family/friends there, 9 per cent
•     Too much government interference, 5 per cent
•     Government legislation/taxation, 5 per cent
•     Crime, 3 per cent
•     Cheaper/money will go further, 3 per cent
•     Better quality of people, 2 per cent
•     Less populated, 2 per cent

Danny Sriskandarajah, Associate Director of ippr, said: “When the going is good, Brits get going. A healthy economy at home, especially when house prices are buoyant and the pound is strong, makes it easier to up sticks and move abroad. From Australia to Zambia, Brits are looking for a better job, a better quality of life or a sunny retirement. Very few leave because they think the country has ‘gone to the dogs’.

“Britain does not just have the world's leading financial centre and the busiest international airport but is truly at the crossroads of the global movement of people. But our research also shows that for some emigrants, being ill-prepared or not knowing the local language can cloud their experience of a place in the sun.”