The number of Britons emigrating has hit a new high, it was revealed on Tuesday – as the exodus under Labour gathers pace.
Last year the number of UK citizens going to live abroad was 257,000 – far more than the 77,000 previously estimated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Before Labour came to power, the highest such figure was 283,000 in 2021 – when international travel reopened following the pandemic.
Net emigration has also peaked since last year’s general election.
In the 12 months to September 2024, a net 116,000 Britons left the country. This is far higher than previously thought. By December, the net figure for the previous 12 months was 114,000. Net British emigration was just 81,000 in 2022.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Keir Starmer‘s punishing tax rises are causing Britons to flee in record numbers.
‘The brightest and the best are leaving the UK for places like Dubai and Milan, leaving the rest of us to pay Labour’s higher taxes.
‘This is evidence that increasing tax too far makes people leave.’
The number of Britons emigrating has hit a new high, it was revealed on Tuesday – as the exodus under Keir Starmer’s Labour gathers pace
The ONS data also revealed a historic, post-Brexit moment as migration from the EU fell below 100,000 for the first time since 2003.
It showed the full impact that Britain’s departure from EU ‘free movement’ rules has had.
Statisticians cut their estimate of the number of EU migrants who last year came to live in Britain long-term from 122,000 to 82,000.
These trends came to light after the ONS improved its methods to calculate migration flows over a four-year period to December 2024 by using Government data from the tax and benefits systems.
The changes also showed net migration from outside the EU topped one million annually for the first time. In the year to March 2023, a net 1,047,000 non-EU nationals came to live here.
Since then, non-EU net migration dropped to 528,000 in the year to December 2024.
Mary Gregory, of the ONS, said: ‘Understanding the long-term international migration patterns of British nationals has been, and always will be, challenging.’
