195,000 Under-35s Left the UK Last Year
ONS data reveals three-quarters of emigrants are young, fleeing costs, crime, and stagnation
195,000 under-35s emigrated in a year, handing trained talent to Japan, Dubai, and Bali gratis. High costs, taxes, and cultural resentment drive the exodus amid government growth claims.
195,000 Under-35s Left the UK Last Year
Office for National Statistics data records 195,000 people under 35 departing Britain in the year to June 2025. Three-quarters of all British emigrants fell into this age group. Governments tout graduate employment at 87%, yet these exits expose the gap between official metrics and lived realities.
Ray Amjad, a Cambridge graduate, chose Tokyo over the UK. He cites safety—phones unmolested, laptops secure in cafes—and rents one-third of London’s prices. Japan gains a fully trained talent without funding his education or healthcare.
His peers scatter to Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong. All reference UK cost pressures and scarce opportunities. This cohort, educated at public expense, now subsidizes foreign economies.
Isobel Perl relocates her skincare business to Dubai. No income tax offsets high living costs; golden visas lure creators with 10-year residency. She clears £500,000 in UK stock amid rebranding woes, seeking Dubai’s ambitious energy.
Sol Hyde fled Colchester’s corporate drudgery for Bali and Cape Town. Sunlit days fuel his marketing firm, now hiring 10. UK “tall poppy syndrome” and taxes stifled his risks; abroad, peers build without resentment.
David Little of Evelyn Partners pins it on UK’s negative narrative: high unemployment, debt, taxes, vanishing graduate jobs. UAE offers tax-free pay, low crime, business optimism. Families fund emigration, not home deposits.
ONS notes young migrants dominate flows, though new methods cloud year-on-year trends. DWP counters with corporation tax caps and startup aid. Yet 195,000 exits dwarf such claims.
Economic Stagnation Persists
UK living costs crush young workers. Rents devour pay; jobs demand long hours in darkness. Abroad, equivalents yield freedom—motorbikes to run clubs, co-working with builders.
Governments since 1997 promise growth. Labour’s Budget echoes Tory incentives: lower high street taxes, scalable startups. Results falter; youth employment hides underemployment and exodus.
Fiscal drag compounds it. High taxes hit growth; welfare swells as migrants impose deficits, per Migration Advisory Committee findings. Young taxpayers flee the burden.
Safety and Culture Erode Retention
Ray’s Tokyo safety contrasts UK theft fears. Sol decries lonely UK grind versus Bali’s vibrant networks. Dubai’s “can-do” vibe trumps Britain’s criticism of success.
Crime stats back them: phones snatched, violence unchecked. Institutional trust plummets; police log non-crime hate over real threats. Young people prioritize security abroad.
Cultural pessimism seals it. “Tall poppy” resentment chokes ambition. Functional nations reward risk; UK breeds evasion.
This brain drain drains £ billions in training costs. Taxpayers fund universities, then export graduates. Japan, UAE, Indonesia reap uninvested gains.
Cross-party inertia sustains the cycle. Labour blames prior regimes; Tories decried stagnation too. No administration reverses the pull of safer, freer shores.
Britain hemorrhages its future. 195,000 under-35s signal terminal uncompetitiveness—economic sclerosis, social decay, institutional failure. Replacement relies on imports that strain the rest.
Commentary based on Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad? at BBC News.