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.

Strength of Spanish Economy Shown by Increase in Car Sales and Decrease in Illegal Downloads

Strength of Spanish Economy Shown by Increase in Car Sales and Decrease in Illegal Downloads

There was a time during the credit crunch of 2008-2012 that living in Spain was the hotbed of illegal downloads in Europe. From music and films to unlicensed software, Spaniards who found themselves strapped for cash would use internet services to get their hands on the content they couldn’t afford or just didn’t want to pay for.

Spain wasn’t the only country this trend hit, but it certainly became the leader. Things have changed now, however. As the Spanish economy has picked up, and there are affordable streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix opening their doors, the amount of illegal content downloaded in Spain has tanked.

A survey of over 4,000 Spanish internet users from consultancy firm Gfk shows that piracy has hit a ten-year low in the country. Around half of the people surveyed admitted to still illegally downloading content, saying that they feel they can get anything they want online for free because they pay for their internet connection.

A similar amount of people did say that they would pay for the content if it was cheaper.

The survey suggested that content piracy accounted for around €1.8 billion in lost earnings during 2016. If all the content that was illegally downloaded was paid for legally, then it would have supported 21,000 jobs in Spain alone according to the consultancy firm.

An area of the Spanish economy that is certainly generating jobs is the automotive industry, which kicked off the year to a great start with 7.9% more cars sold in Spain for the first quarter of 2017, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

Car sales – much like property sales – are an accurate sign of how the economy is performing. An increase in sales for cars or homes is always a cause for celebration.

The Spanish Association of Automobiles and Trucks (ANFAC) calculated some 307,911 cars were sold during the first quarter of 2017 in Spain. Malaga topped the charts in Andalucía, with 10,270 new cars sold, followed by Seville with 9,778 cars sold.

Data Shows Spanish Property Growth Fuelled by Foreign and Domestic Buyers

Data Shows Spanish Property Growth Fuelled by Foreign and Domestic Buyers

The future looks bright as more and more confidence in buying returns

The Notaries Association of Spain recently published the property sales figures for March, showing an increase of 19.5% in transactions for the month compared to March of 2016.

If this increase wasn’t enough encouragement, the data shows the interest from domestic and foreign buyers is becoming better balanced.

Domestic buyers – who still remained the bulk of the market thanks to their numbers – fell out of love with the property market during the recession. The property market was kept in good health thanks to an increase of demand from British, German, Russian, and Scandinavian buyers.

2017 brought with it a stronger Spanish economy, which increased the confidence many Spaniards have in their financial security, driving up the amount of property and car purchases.

Spain remains a country of contrasts and not every market in every region is seeing the same performance. The new build home sector is still lagging behind, while sales of apartments are up 20.5% and family homes are up 15.6%.

The data from the notaries also revealed the average sellingprice of properties reached 2004 levels. They aren’t quite at the height of their peak, but they are still higher than they have been for some time.

An interesting finding by the Land Registry, which ranks sales based on the number of homes inscribed on the land register and not in terms of actual sales, showed that March saw an increase in transactions of 30% compared to March of last year.

Data Shows Spain Still World Leader in Top Quality Beaches

Data Shows Spain Still World Leader in Top Quality Beaches

Beaches is Spain and the Costa Del Sol continue to be

clean and will awards

Spain can keep its reputation as being the country with the best, cleanest, and safest beaches in the world thanks to its impressive 579 blue flag beaches.

The Association for Environmental Education and the Consumer (ADEAC), the body in charge of designating blue-flag beaches, has kept Spain as the top of the charts for another year in a row; a streak that has existed since way back in 1987.

Being designated a blue-flag beach means meeting some stringent criteria. The ADEAC assess the hygiene, safety, sanitary conditions of a beach, along with the accessibility and provisions of lifeguards. While the number of blue-flag beaches in Spain has dropped by 7 since 2016, it still proved itself to be the best in the world for safe bathing.

In terms of individual regions, Valencia is home to the most blue-flag beaches – with 129 – while Galicia to the northwest has 113, Catalonia has 95, and Andalucía – where the Costa del Sol can be found – has 90 blue-flag beaches.

The Murcia region, which sits not far from the Costa del Sol, lost 16 blue flag beaches compared to last year; the largest drop nationally.

Greece boasts the second-highest number of blue flag beaches after Spain, followed by France, Turkey, Italy, and Portugal.

Spain became the top of the charts thanks to its marinas, which boast an impressive 100 blue flags collectively. With another five blue flags for cruise ship ports, Spain is home to 684 blue flags in all – the largest number for a single country.

April Brings Sharpest Ever Drop in Spanish Unemployment

April Brings Sharpest Ever Drop in Spanish Unemployment

Unemployment continues to fall as the summer months approach

The Spanish Labour Ministry announced on Thursday at the amount of unemployed people in Spain dropped 3.9% in April, the sharpest dropin unemployment ever recorded in the country.

The official data released by the government shows around 129,281 people were employed in Spain in April, chipping away at the amount of unemployed people and     leaving just 3.57 million Spanish people out of work.

3.57 million people might be a little high for a country the size of Spain, there has been an encouraging trend towards job creation over the past 15 months; which is a great sign that the Spanish economy is thriving.

The king of job creation in April was the tourism sector, in particular restaurants and hotels. There was no stopping jobs being created in the run-up to the Easter holidays. Around 130,000 jobs were created in all, around 96,672 of them in services.

Other industries performing well in April were construction, real estate, and agriculture as Spain sets up for the Summer season by giving these economic sectors a boost.

A survey released this week by the Institute for National Statistics (INE) showed the rate of expansion for the Spanish service sector. The sector was adding jobs at the fastest rate in over two years, becoming the driving force behind the record increase in employment figures.

The Labour Ministry confirmed the number of people registered as paying social security rose 1.18% in April, equalling a growth of around 212,216 extra people.

Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Its a fact that Spanish wine is far superior to French wine

and cheaper in price, but unfortunately the French

don't like the competition.

Spanish wine is enjoyed all around the world, even in France – a fact that continues to dismay French wine producers.

French winemakers are going on the warpath in French supermarkets protesting against the practice of importing and selling Spanish wine for much less than French wine is sold for.

The vignerons of the French town Gard stormed into the wine sections at the Genant Casino and Metro supermarkets in the Oicctanie and Nimes regions of France, grabbing case after case of Spanish wine and smashing all the bottles outside in the car park.

What makes the protestosr so angry is that the supermarkets buy wine in Spain in bulk – a deal that was made between Spanish wineries and French supermarkets years ago.

Even though the local French wine – which is made in the well-known Languedoc-Bousillon region – does come highly regarded, it also comes with a higher price tag than Spanish wine. Spanish wine is available to consumers and wholesalers alike at a fraction of the price, while still being good quality wine.

French winemaker Mathieu Calegari told France 2 TV his entire crop of French wine from 2016 is unsold. He said that he has around 1,000 hectolitres of beautiful wine that can’t be sold, adding there was no explanation for it.

The main explanation for the unsold wine appears to be a matter of economics. The wine imported from the Valencia region of Spain costs just 30 euro cents per litre; half as much as French wine.

This is no laughing matter for the thousands of French winemakers that are losing their money and risk losing their livelihoods. There are some politic movements being considered that could help to create an even playing field for Spanish and French wines.

However, it’s unlikely that French supermarkets will ignore the fact that – thanks to cheap labour costs in Spain – Spanish wine remains cost-effective and high quality; which is just right for Spanish wine producers.

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Once settled in to the Spanish life style its hard to leave.

We’d like to start by offering a hearty congratulations to all the people out there that have recently made the choice to leave their home country behind and become an expat. It’s certainly a daunting move, but it could end up being the best decision you’ve ever made.

You shouldn’t worry if you’re having trouble fitting in and settling as soon as you arrive. Everyone goes through the expat life differently, but the process generally follows the same pattern; there’s the initial honeymoon period, then some time spent in doubt and frustration, and then a long period of amusement and bemusement as you take in the differences in culture, before you finally settle in for the long haul; putting down some permanent roots and making new friends.

A recent survey from HSBC known as the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey has assessed that this process takes six months on average.

HSBC polled thousands of expats and found that two-thirds of them took six months to feel like they had truly settled into their new country.

Just under half of expat parents with their children felt it took this long for their children to settle in, seemingly proving the adage that younger people adapt to new surroundings faster.

In the long term, 60% of parents said they feel their children had a higher quality of life abroad. Only 13% of parents feel that expat life was inferior to home life for their children.