Australia most popular destination for brit expats

Photo: Christian Junker

The study by Lloyds Bank reveals that 850,000 Brits have moved overseas for a new life over the past five years, down 10 per cent from the previous five years (2004 - 2008).

Since 2009, emigration levels have remained stable (around 142,000 per year), with as many as 4.7 million Brits now thought to be living abroad.

When it comes to choosing where to move, the trend is equally stable: Australia has remained the most popular destination for British expats over the past five years. 207,000 Brits have flocked Down Under in total since 2009.

Other countries in the list of the Top 10 destinations for British emigrants over the past five years include the USA (72,000), Spain (52,000), France (51,000) and New Zealand (43,000). The countries with the largest British communities, meanwhile, are Australia, the USA, Canada, Spain and Ireland.

Employment is the main driver behind moving overseas, with two out of five expats in 2013 moving for work related reason, up from 35 per cent during the height of the UK recession in 2009.

29 per cent of respondents in 2013 reported they had a definite job to go to, up from 23 per cent in 2009; while on average one in 10 will aim to look for a job.

The top three destinations for British citizens emigrating for a "definite job" were Australia, USA and Spain. For British emigrants looking for work, the main destinations were New Zealand, Australian and Spain.

In 2013 on average, over two out of five (44 per cent) of British citizens moving abroad were professionals, whilst 30 per cent had a clerical/manual working background. 12 per cent were going to study.

Around two-thirds (66%) of British citizens emigrating since 2009 have indicated they intend to live abroad for more than four years. One in five intend to be away for up to 1-2 years and seven per cent for more than two and up to four years. The remaining seven per cent were unsure about their intended length of stay.