Emigration: Two million quit Britain in 'talent drain'

Emigration: Two million quit Britain in 'talent drain'

Two million people of working age have left Britain over the last decade in a “drain of talent” that is damaging the economy and forcing employers to rely on immigrant workers, a senior Conservative has warned.

Around 149,000 British citizens emigrated last year Photo: PA

Nick de Bois, secretary of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, said that Britain needs a “culture change” to stem the flow of talented emigrants by encouraging success.

Office for National Statistics figures obtained by Mr de Bois show that in the ten years to 2011, a total of 3,599,000 people permanently left the UK.

Contrary to the perception of the typical emigrants being older people retiring to a life in the sun, the figures show that 1,963,000 of those who left were aged between 25 and 44.

By contrast, only 125,000 people of retirement age emigrated.

“Our most economically active are leaving to apply their talents elsewhere,” the MP said, warning that talented Britons are being lured away to “growth economies” elsewhere in the world.