Britons are leaving the UK at a much faster rate than previously thought, and Independent readers have been sharing vivid insights as to why that might be.
Many pointed to better job opportunities, lower taxes, and an improved quality of life abroad – with Dubai, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland among the most popular destinations.
For some, the move was a deliberate career decision. One reader described how the UK’s tax system and bureaucratic hurdles pushed them to Cyprus, while another highlighted their daughter’s frustrations with NHS management and underfunded training as the tipping point for leaving.
Brexit and the changing social climate also played a role. Even those who had emigrated decades ago felt vindicated, noting a sharp decline in public attitudes, rising racism, and a volatile political landscape that made returning increasingly unappealing.
For most commenters, the decision to leave was final. One reader still in the UK said they plan to return to their original country once family obligations are complete, but everyone who has settled abroad indicated they do not intend to come back.
Here’s what you had to say:
Waiting for common sense to return
We all got fed up with subsidising the entitled. The UK represents less than 1 per cent of the worlds population, so I figured that if I wasn’t happy with the status quo, I’d better check out some of the other 99 per cent. That was four countries ago!
Spain has just posted 2.9 per cent growth, we will soon have trains that travel at 350 km/h, and the cost of living and quality of life are much better. Of course there are problems, as there are everywhere, but people seem generally happier.
People make their own decisions, but my feeling was always that an oppositional duopoly is designed for loss, and that Brexit has locked in that loss for years to come, and I simply hadn’t enough time left to wait for common sense to return.
Great country, shame about the politics. Get a skill, keep an open mind and decide for yourself.
FreeLife
I have never looked back
As a young teacher living in London, I got fed up with spending all my wages on my Travelcard and extortionate rent to live in a freezing cold flat share.
Imagine: paying all those student loans only to arrive at work shivering and fed up after a weekend spent at home (too broke to go out), with no privacy and no prospect of ever having my own flat, then having to face a classroom full of children.
I caught numerous ear infections and viruses off the kids and spent months on a waitlist to see an ENT but never got an appointment. I packed up for Dubai over a decade ago and never looked back.
SaraT
I do not recognise the country I was born into
I left post-Brexit, 2019. I’m unlikely to be back as there is no reason to return. I am retired, and I do not recognise the country I was born into in what exists now – and its not because of immigration. England was always beset with hypocrisy; now the chickens have returned to roost.
The political parties have all, in my judgement, ceased to represent anything other than their own direct interests. There now are, in my view, neither practical pro-socialists as some of my staff were, nor small-c conservatives as my great aunts were.
Perhaps the last to leave could turn off the lights? Oh – there wont be any lights by then, will there?
OhGosh
Brexit is good… for our neighbours
I have a holiday/retirement home in Languedoc. The number of Britons buying properties in the area has boomed since Brexit.
The locals are delighted – they are gaining local taxes, more business for their shops, restaurants and cafés. It is easy to get French nationality if you are affluent and astute enough to do your homework.
Brexit is good… for our neighbours.
HASTINGSPIER
Holes that could take a generation to fill
I came to the UK over two decades ago, and I can honestly say the atmosphere has grown progressively darker and more negative. It isn’t immigration thats to blame, the real damage has been done by those who push hate and negativity onto anyone they can, as a distraction from the consequences of austerity and the hardship it has caused across the country.
I don’t blame young people for leaving either. And heres the real secret: its not just the young who are leaving. Educated, skilled and professional people are weighing their options too. Not only those born here, but newcomers like myself – business owners, doctors, nurses, architects and other professionals.
I love the UK. It has been home for me and my family for a long time, and we chose to come here. But I can see whats coming: in the next few years, many valuable people will leave. Those departures will leave holes that could take a generation to fill.
karlostheheckle
I chose the expat life
I had a nice job in the UK but always wanted to travel without joining the military or airlines. I eventually obtained a transfer to Dubai with an American consumer goods company and really never looked back.
Both my kids were born abroad – one in Dubai, the other in Switzerland – and both have benefited from the expat life, travel, and seeing as much of the world as I could arrange.
I often see young people in rubber boats on TV from my quiet village in France and think I would do the same if there was no choice. I had a choice. Arriving back in the UK in 1990 at the end of Margaret’s innings saw huge interest rate hikes and a lot of repossessions. After HMRC tried its level best to tax my pants off as a start-up, I shifted in 1998 to Cyprus for some sun, low tax, and a nice pool. I haven’t been home since.
One of my daughters worked in the NHS and after four years left for New Zealand. It wasn’t the low pay, long hours, or expensive parking but the extremely low management and interpersonal skills of the supervisor grades that drove her away.
Chris
I’m not coming back
I left the UK in 2004 and will never return.
We don’t get to choose where we are born, but we can (or could) choose where we want to live and work. There is absolutely nothing that pulls me back towards my birthplace.
ArcticFox
I too have been a migrant for twenty years, working and paying tax, but we have decided to go back next year once the youngest finishes university.
It is hard, but I am so fed up with the constant blaming of migrants for the state of the country, which we did not vote in.
Leftyandproud
I’m leaving for good
In the 1970s myself and my black British partner fought a lot of racism, even directed at pre-school kids. Gradually, over the decades, it got better. Things seemed to be progressing well – then came Brexit and things started to turn.
It is now horrendous. People I have known for decades are coming out with racist comments. My adult children are both now living abroad, and as soon as I sell my house I am leaving.
Aryhian1
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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