One In Three British Expats Is Homesick And Wants To Return To The UK

One third of British expats would move back home, given the choice, while 72% of British expats are unhappy where they currently live, according to a survey of over 700 British expats conducted by Experts for Expats.

The survey 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.

Homesickness combined with family reasons were cited by 43% of respondents as the primary reasons for wanting to move back to the UK. Only 23% 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 1% would move home for career opportunities.

40% 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% of respondents, while financial or career reasons were only important to 13%.

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

Excluding the UK, the top five countries British expats would most like to live were: Australia (12.2%), United States (8.4%), Caribbean (5.7%), Spain (5.6%) and France (5.11%). See the full top ten >

For a nation synonymous with focus on the weather, only 6% 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 summed up what many felt, "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, "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."

He continued, "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."

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Core data is available on request including anonymous quotes from respondents. Email advice@expertsforexpats.com for more information.