Poll Finds 70% Of British Expats Unlikely to Return Home

Poll Finds 70% Of British Expats Unlikely to Return Home

With the wonderful sunshine and Mediterranean lifestyle

its no wonder why no one wants to go back to the cold of

northern europe

The decision to become an expat is not something one takes lightly. It can be stressful to uproot your entire life. If you plan carefully however, then you’ll likely have a positive experience. Things are so good for expats, in fact, that a recent poll of British expats suggested that 69% of them had no intention of ever returning home.

The survey was conducted by the financial services organisation deVere Groups. It found that many British expats are very happy with their current lives as only 10% said that they would consider moving back home to the UK, with only 21% answering “maybe” they would go back.

One of the main reasons that Brits move abroad is to findwork, with just under a quarter of those polled saying they moved for their jobs.

The survey looked at around 1,000 Brits living abroad in countries such as Spain, Australia, the UAE, and South Africa. It shined a light on the main motivating factors behind Brits moving abroad, what the expat life is like, and their long-term plans.

One thing of note was the discovery that 72% of Brits still send some money back the UK regularly, either adding to their savings account or supporting their family members. Of the people polled, 87% of respondents said that they had an easier time saving money after moving, while the majority added that they had a better quality of life compared to life at home.

The CEO of deVere Group Nigel Green says that more Brits than ever are living outside of the UK. There are now officially 5 million Brits living overseas, but it’s believed that the real number is higher as many expats don’t take the time to register themselves with the authorities of their new countries.

Green added that if one were to extrapolate the data from the poll and put it against the number of official British expats, it would mean that around 3.5 million Brits living outside of the UK had no desire to ever come home.

Green said the survey shows that many people considering a move abroad can expect to have a fulfilling and rewarding experience. There are a number of reasons for this, including better career opportunities, a lower cost of living, a higher quality of life, top-notch education and childcare, lower crime levels, and great weather.

Even though many expats currently believe that they will stay outside of the UK – and precious few studies have been conducted on the return rate of long-term expats – there is evidence that suggests more than the 70% of expats indicated in the survey will come home to the UK one day. ManyBritish retirees living in Spain will usually return to the UK when they near the end of their lives, in order to spend time with their family.