Five hundred Britons are leaving the UK every day to live in the sun or find work abroad, according to the Office of National Statistics. A record 380,000 people left the country in 2005. More than half were British citizens leaving for more than a year. The top destinations are Australia, Spain, France and New Zealand.

Meanwhile 565,000 people arrived, slightly down on the previous year, so the overall population rose by 185,000. Most came to work or study.

One in five Britons moving abroad headed for Australia. Large numbers also emigrated to Spain, where there is an established expatriate retirement community. Canada and South Africa are also very popular.

The figures released by the ONS show that, of the 380,000 people who left the country in 2005, 198,000, were British citizens. In 2001, the figure was 159,000. The net outflow of Britons — the difference between British people leaving and British people returning — increased by 25 per cent between 2001 and 2005.

Whereas many of the migrants arriving in Britain said that they would stay for one or two years, a large proportion of those leaving said that they intended to stay abroad for more than four years. Just over 40 per cent said that they were “emigrating” and gave no further reason — suggesting they were leaving for good. Almost 30 per cent said that they were leaving to look for a job or already had definite jobs.

The estimated number of people arriving to live for more than a year is equivalent to an average of 1,500 a day, which the ONS said “continued the overall trend of high in migration into the UK that began in the late 1990s”.

People from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka accounted for two thirds of net immigration. Many of them were joining family members.

Britain is experiencing its highest ever levels of immigration. The 2004 net figure of 223,000 was the highest ever. When Labour took office in 1997, net migration was about 46,800 a year, and had been at that level for two decades.

On Wednesday, Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, admitted that although globalisation and migration had made the UK richer it had also “deeply unsettled” the country.

He also admitted that laissez-faire migration risked damaging poorer parts of the community and hindering Labour’s attempts to improve educational standards in deprived areas.

Changing places

Where immigrants to the UK come from
1 India 92,000
2 Australia 78,000
3 Poland 69,000
4 South Africa 63,000
5 US 50,000
6 China 49,000
7 Pakistan 46,000
8 Germany 43,000
9 France 28,000
10 New Zealand 27,000
11 Spain 27,000
12 Philippines 20,000
13 Nigeria 19,000
14 Japan 17,000
15 Bangladesh 17,000

Where British citizens choose to emigrate
1 Australia 71,000
2 Spain 58,000
3 France 42,000
4 New Zealand 30,000
5 US 25,000
6 Canada 17,000
7 Netherlands 8,000
8 UAE 7,000
9 Germany 6,000
10 South Africa 6,000

Source: ONS 2004-05

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• What makes the perfect mum?
• To keep me stress-free, no more awareness days, please
• What do lottery winners buy?