Latest figures released by the British government reveal that Australians are leaving the UK in their droves and returning home to Oz.
The figures show that the Australian population in Britain fell by 22,000 between 2010 and 2011, while in the decade to 2011 the number of Aussies arriving in the UK fell by 50 per cent. What’s more, in 2011 just 26,000 Aussies arrived in Britain while 48,000 left the country – 20 per cent more than did so in 2010.
Tighter immigration laws, an unfavourable exchange rate and the negative impact made by the recession have all been given as significant factors in the declining number of Australians moving to, and staying, in the UK.
According to the Britain-Australian Society, there has been an approximately 30 per cent drop in the organisation’s membership in the past year and the group now boasts only 700 members.
“The reduction [in members] was mainly middle-income earners who can earn more in Australia than here [UK],” explains Dale Eaton, the Britain-Australia Society’s director. “The quality of life in Australia has increased and wages are good so people either repatriate or choose not to leave Australia.”
Eaton also believes that the decline in Australians living in the UK is having an adverse effect on Australian businesses, such as Aussie bars and food outlets, as demand for their services shrinks.