111,000 Under-35s Quit Britain in One Year
ONS data reveals youth exodus to Dubai, Berlin, Vancouver amid rents and stagnation
Net 111,000 aged 16-34 emigrated in a year, driven by low wages, high rents, and bleak prospects. Skilled graduates build lives abroad, draining UK's productivity and tax base.
Commentary Based On
the Guardian
‘It’s been life-changing’: young Britons on why they left the UK to work abroad
111,000 Under-35s Quit Britain in One Year
Office for National Statistics data records a net 111,000 emigrants aged 16-34 in the year to March 2025. This marks a sharp youth outflow amid claims of economic stabilisation. Young skilled workers cite unlivable rents and stagnant wages as drivers.
Ben, a 24-year-old Oxbridge finance graduate, ditched UK plans for Dubai. London squeezes workers, he says, with racial tensions and Brexit fallout eroding appeal. Regional divides outside the capital block ambition for graduates like him.
Caitlin, 27 from Manchester, fled London for Berlin three years ago. Stabilised rents there dwarf UK costs; her large apartment rents for a third of London’s equivalent. She traded customer service for a Blue Card visa, gaining job security absent at home.
Nat Watson, a 24-year-old web developer from Wales, earns more in Vancouver than anywhere UK. His last Welsh job paid £1,000 monthly despite a decade’s experience. Vancouver offers nature, friendliness, and affordability over Merthyr Tydfil.
Wage and Housing Traps
These cases expose wage stagnation in tech and finance sectors. Developers and graduates accept overseas offers double UK entry pay. Housing compounds this: Berlin loopholes aside, UK rents rose 9% yearly since 2020, per ONS, pricing out under-30s.
Freelancer Maisie from North Yorkshire winters in Thailand at £1,000 monthly total outgoings. UK living costs exceed that, she calculates, blocking savings amid student debt. Her pattern—four months abroad yearly—signals semi-permanent exodus.
Persistent Policy Blind Spots
Governments since 2010 promised housing delivery: 300,000 annually under Tories, now Labour targets. Actual builds lag at 220,000, per DLUHC. Planning inertia and NIMBY capture stall supply, fueling rents that drive talent abroad.
Brexit rhetoric masked mobility losses for youth. Pre-2016, EU free movement retained Brits in Europe; post-vote, non-EU paths like UAE visas lure them further. Net migration swells at 700,000 yearly, yet young natives depart.
Productivity growth flatlines at 0.4% annually since 2008, ONS data shows. Losing coders to Vancouver and financiers to Dubai shrinks the tax base. An aging population bears heavier welfare loads as contributors flee.
Cross-Party Exodus Drivers
This repeats under every regime. Blair-era booms drew returnees; Brown’s crash seeded doubts. Cameron’s austerity bit graduates; Johnson’s levelling-up bypassed them. Starmer inherits the outflow, with no reversal in sight.
Institutions track numbers but ignore causation. ONS caveats methodology changes, yet raw emigration spikes align with 4.2% youth unemployment and 25% renter under-30s, Resolution Foundation reports. Policy responds with internships, not root fixes.
Britain forfeits human capital to Canada, UAE, and Germany. Young talent exports signal terminal economic sclerosis, not transient dip. Ordinary citizens face depleted services as the productive flee unlivable prospects.
Commentary based on ‘It’s been life-changing’: young Britons on why they left the UK to work abroad by Jane Clinton on the Guardian.