Fewer than one million British expats found in EU

There are not as many British expats living in EU countries as had previously been thought, according to research by the Office of National Statistics.

Some 890,000 British citizens are dotted around the EU, with the lion’s share of 308,805 in Spain.

This is fewer than the estimate of 1,200,000 which has often been put forward.  This figure emanated from United Nations statistics.

At the same time, there are 3,150,000 nationals from various EU countries living in the UK.

The ONS figures are based on Eurostat data acquired from national censuses for 2010-11.  From these result the estimate that there were 890,299 British citizens living in other EU countries in 2011. The figures count only those expats resident in a country for more than 12 months.

Demographers believe their estimate based on citizenship is closer to the truth than the UN’s which had been based on country of birth rather than nationality.

“We believe it is better to use the more detailed census data in order to estimate the number of British citizens living abroad,” said the ONS.

The ONS research confirms that Spain has the largest number of British expats.  Of the 308,805 counted, one-third (101,045) is over the age of 65. 

The next most popular countries for British citizens living abroad are France (157,062), Ireland (112,090) and Germany (96,200).

Portugal was reported to have 15,774 British expats, making it the 10^th most popular place in Europe.  Of this total, the vast majority (9,467) were 50 or more years of age.

And although the data are from five years ago, the ONS says there are several reasons why the data provide the best estimate of British citizens living in the EU.  The information covers all countries in the EU, it has been rigorously collected and verified, it is the most recent comparable data and the ONS said its “research suggests that there has not been a great deal of change in the numbers between 2011 and 2016.”

The report also showed that:

The largest age group is 30 to 49 years, accounting for 280,000 people;

Most British citizens living in Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, France and Bulgaria are aged 50 or over;

The highest concentration of British citizens is in Cyprus, with 2.9% of the population holding only British citizenship;

British citizens make up 0.2% of the population of the EU (excluding the UK) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland - combined.

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