Exodus as young workers flee high-tax Britain
A net 110,000 16 to 34-year-olds emigrated in the year to June, amounting to two thirds of all those who left the country
CHARLES HYMAS, BEN BUTCHER, HANS VAN LEEUWEN
Young workers are fleeing Labour’s high-tax Britain, with under-35s leading a near-record exodus.
A net 110,000 British people aged 16 to 34 emigrated in the year to March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), accounting for two thirds of all departing Britons.
The ONS has broken down its migration data by age for the first time, revealing how Britain’s ageing society is haemorrhaging young people while older expats are returning home.
The figures will fuel claims that Rachel Reeves’s record tax rises have made Britain unattractive to the young and aspirant.
Increases to National Insurance and the minimum wage have driven up the cost of hiring, leading to a slump in graduate jobs and warnings that those in the early stages of their careers are being priced out of the employment market.
The youth unemployment rate is 15pc, a decade-high excluding the pandemic, with more than 700,000 out of work.
Following the Budget, young people will now also face stiffer repayments on university student loans, potentially higher rents and will pay tax on their incomes sooner.
Some 87,000 young adults aged 16 to 24 left the country in the 12 months to March, according to the ONS, while 87,000 aged 25 to 34 departed. Across these age groups, 63,000 Britons returned from overseas during the same period.
Among Britons aged 35 to 44, net emigration was 15,000 in the year to June.
Older Britons returned to the UK in greater numbers than they left. There was net inward migration of 7,000 Britons aged 55 to 64, and 11,000 for the over-65s.
This means almost all the country’s net loss of 112,000 Britons was concentrated in the under-35s.
Young people may be taking advantage of more liberal rules in some European countries or the Middle East, where visa categories allow for remote working.
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Young Britons are flocking to Australia, where the youth unemployment rate is under 10pc. Britons were the fastest-growing nationality of people taking up working holiday visas to Australia in 2024-25, increasing 80pc from a year earlier.
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