travelling-blogger

comments

It seems a life abroad is not always the new start Britons are looking for.

New statistics show that one third of British expats would move back home, given the choice, while 72 per cent of British expats are unhappy where they currently live.

The survey, conducted by Experts for Expats, collected responses during October and November 2014 and asked British expats where they would most like to live in the world, if there were no barriers to relocating.  

Research has found 72 per cent of British expats are unhappy where they currently live

Homesickness combined with family reasons were cited by 43 per cent of respondents as the primary reasons for wanting to move back to the UK.

Only 23 per cent of those wanting to return home would do so for the quality of life in the UK. 

One in five expats would look to move home for financial reasons, while just one per cent would move home for career opportunities. 

Forty per cent rated quality of life over any other factor when choosing a country to live, other than the UK. 

Local culture was rated as the second most important factor by 19 per cent of respondents, while financial or career reasons were only important to 13 per cent. 

It's not all smiles for British expat as many have revealed they wish to return home

Respondents to the survey came from around the world, with a majority of responses coming from France (15 per cent), the United States (13 per cent), Spain (8 per cent), Germany (7 per cent) and Australia (7 per cent). 

Excluding the UK, the top five countries British expats would most like to live in were: Australia (12.2 per cent), United States (8.4 per cent), Caribbean (5.7 per cent), Spain (5.6 per cent) and France (5.11 per cent). 

For a nation synonymous with focus on the weather, only six per cent of those surveyed cited this as their primary reason for choosing somewhere to live, although it is often mentioned as one of the secondary factors. 

One respondent explained: 'I live in Germany and although it is an amazing country, it's just not home. I'd love to move back to the UK and be nearer friends and family.'

Robert Hallums, founder of Experts for Expats, believes expat life doesn't always match the dream.

He said: 'Whether moving abroad for work or life reasons, too often lack of investigation means that the dream fails to match reality. 

'Circumstances may change, such as the loss of a loved one or failure to meet new friends, and we find that returning home is deemed the only solution. 

'For people considering moving abroad, it is vital that they do their research, not just for the short term, but also taking likely scenarios into consideration that could affect your longer term arrangements.'