Brain drain latest: Brits quitting UK three times faster than thought
Fears that the UK is in the grips of a ‘brain drain’ escalated on Tuesday after fresh data revealed that than three times as many British nationals left the UK last year than officials previously thought.
According to revisions made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 257,000 Britons left the UK in 2024, over 250 per cent more than the earlier estimate of 77,000.
The ONS changed its methods for calculating overall immigration from a collection method that relied on polling, to one that used Brits’ use of public authorities and organisations. The statistics body had previously relied on the International Passenger Survey, but its small sample size coupled with an increase in emigration meant the method had been “stretched beyond its original purpose”.
The figures will amplify concerns that the UK is suffering from a so-called ‘brain drain’, with the country’s stubbornly low growth and increasingly high taxes on wealth and high-earners leading many to look abroad.
Controversial crackdown on high earners
In an attempt to shore up the UK’s parlous public finances, the government has announced a controversial crackdown on its highest earning and wealthiest citizens, including a abolishing the non-dom regime, applying VAT to school fees and freezing income tax thresholds.
But the changes have sparked fears that former non-doms and wealthy Brits are moving to avoid the crackdown, on top of which the country is now struggling to retain some of its younger ambitious citizens.
A recent poll commissioned by the Adam Smith Institute found that more than a quarter of 18-30 year-olds were either heavily considering leaving the UK, or already making plans to emigrate. Respondents blamed the UK’s supply-starved housing market and flatlining junior wages as being the core reasons for choosing to move.
Australia, Spain and Dubai – which boasts zero income tax and more affordable properties – have become particularly popular destinations for departing Brits looking to work or retire abroad.
Andrew Griffith, shadow business secretary said: “Labour’s economic exodus is in full flight as people flee Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes and mismanagement. It’s potentially the biggest reverse migration in British history.
“This was entirely predictable: when you tax something, you get less of it, and now people are voting with their feet.”
Brain drain drives net migration to be revised down
Immigration of British nationals to the UK was also revised up to 306,000.
The new calculations also showed that there was a slightly higher peak of net migration in the year to March 2023, at 944,000 rather than the previous estimate of 906,000, constituting the so-called ‘Boris wave’ of new arrivals. Speaking in Westminster on Tuesday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch conceded the Conservatives had “taken our eye off the ball.”
Net migration fell to 345,000 in the year to December 2024, the new figures also showed.
Mary Gregory, director of population statistics at the ONS, said the new figures came due to revisions in the interpretation of its International Passenger Survey (IPS) since the pandemic and a greater reliance on visa and tax data.
“Before the pandemic, migration was relatively stable,” Gregory said.
“The pause of the IPS at the start of the pandemic accelerated our move to new methods.
“However, this came during a period when patterns and behaviours have been shifting considerably, influenced by a new immigration system, policy changes and a series of world events.
“During this period, our international migration estimates have been badged as official statistics in development as we’ve worked to better understand new data sources.”
Political row over immigration
The data revisions come as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK pledged key spending cuts through limiting migrants’ access to benefits and increase surcharge fees for using the NHS.
The party called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to find some £25bn in savings around health surcharge fees paid by people on work visas and reducing migrants’ access to Universal Credit and other benefits.
But Farage also said he was worried about young entrepreneurs and rich investors leaving the UK for countries with lower taxes during a press conference on Tuesday.
“They really fear the direction the country is going in,” Farage said.