Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com.
Young people are leaving the UK in record numbers causing a significant exodus of talent – or “brain drain” – that looks certain to harm the economy for decades to come.
Furthermore, the current emigration rate from the UK for all age groups is the highest since the 1900s, with 693,000 long-term departures in the year ending June 2025. This number covers both British and non-British nationals because thousands of people who came to Britain in search of a better life have now decided either to return home or to go to other more prosperous countries.
Back in 2022, 414,000 people emigrated from Britain, meaning the last three years have seen a staggering 67 percent growth of people who left the country.
Among the 693,000 people that left the UK over the past year, it is particularly worrying that 257,000 are British nationals. The previous ONS (Office for National Statistics) estimate for Britons expected to leave in a year stood at 77,000, meaning that the current emigration of British nationals is three times higher than predicted.
Every day 704 British nationals emigrate, voting with their feet against the current situation in their country. According to the ONS, among the British nationals, the two biggest age groups leaving the UK are young people: leading the annual exodus are the 16-24 and the 25-34 age groups, each with 87,000 people: that’s the equivalent of an almost full Wembley stadium for each age group.
It is true that 143,000 British nationals returned to the UK, but the net migration is hugely negative. The net emigration (allowing for immigration too) for the 16-24 age group is 59,000 people and for the 25-34 age group it is 52,000. The only age groups where more Britons are returning to the UK than are leaving are the older ones, namely above 55 year olds, especially among 65+ year olds.
Britain’s youth exodus follows the massive and unprecedented “capital flight”, which I highlighted in July, caused by 10-fold increase in millionaires leaving the UK from 2022 to 2025. Additionally, the UK has the lowest birth rate ever, with only 1.4 children per woman, one third below 2.1, the bare minimum for maintaining the population.
This is happening in front of our eyes, and with an alarming series of consequences – for our universities and our employers, with Gen Z and millennials increasingly finding better opportunities in the US, Australia, UAE, Singapore and other places with lower taxes. They are leaving Labour’s ideological and dogmatic warfare against those who contribute most to the public finances; the tax hikes, non-dom purges, inheritance-tax grabs, VAT on school fees, capital-gains hikes, inheritance taxes for farmers and much more.
The British youth exodus means that it is highly likely that these current 20, 25 and 30 year olds will contribute elsewhere for the next 30 to 40 years.
They will instead build wealth for other countries, raising their families out of the UK. They will spend their most productive years and pay their taxes abroad, avoiding Labour’s smash-and-grab policies. Next, they will invite their siblings and friends abroad. The exodus from the UK is contagious. The word is out that the world is, on the one hand, full of big opportunities but, on the other hand, small and available like never before.
Rathbones, the wealth and asset management group, revealed a poll in November 2025, that 12 per cent of the UK’s SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) owners – around 680,000 businesses – are planning to relocate abroad due to high taxes. One-third of these intend to move both themselves and their companies abroad, chilling numbers indeed.
These trends have been echoed by recent covers of The Economist magazine. “Is Britain going bust?” the magazine asked in its September 27 to October 3 2025 issue. The cover of the November 29 to December 5 2025 issue had an image of Rachel Reeves clutching an empty brief case, with the headline “Britain’s bodge-it”.
As Margaret Thatcher astutely observed: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”. This over-spending, over-taxing Labour government is actively chasing away productive people, their businesses and net contributors.
Labour politicians and their supporters seem set on driving their car off a steep cliff: they are borrowing more and more money, at a higher rate, just to pay to people who don’t work. Meanwhile, the costs of borrowing are increasing with the 10-year government bond yield at around 4.5 percent, showing no confidence in the current economic trajectory.
The current Labour Government has reminded the British people why they rarely give them confidence, particularly when it comes to the economy. Their approval rating currently stands at around 18 per cent in my latest poll. It’s a chronic case of buyers’ remorse. so soon after their landslide victory.
Britain is becoming un-investable, with an accumulation of troubles such as economic decline, unbearable taxes, inflation, low public safety, unsecure borders, rising crime, unaffordable housing, long NHS waiting lists, woke curriculum in schools and poor public services. More and more people simply don’t want to live in such a country which is why so many are choosing to leave.
People from Poland and the Baltics are leaving the UK, since their home nations now have thriving market economies, lower taxes, and safe streets, after so many eastern European countries rejected communism and embraced the free market. Last year 7,000 Poles arrived in the UK, while 25,000 left the UK to return to Poland.
This sinking feeling and toxic situation need to be met by bold, generational reforms, by courageous politicians and real leaders, who will not shy away from their historic responsibility towards the British people and this great country of ours. This economic and societal decline must be overcome, or the UK will land on the periphery of global affairs and finances.
The UK simply cannot afford a decade of youth exodus, capital flight and social decay. Britain needs to be a place for global commerce and innovation – where its streets are safe, where the young want to stay, either to run their own business or to take on a rewarding job, and perhaps to start a family of their own too.
Britain and its people need a government that will reward work and initiative, not welfare and dependency. The UK has badly lost it way and for the sake of its youth, more than any other age group, it needs to get quickly back on track. The future prosperity of the UK depends on it.
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com.
Young people are leaving the UK in record numbers causing a significant exodus of talent – or “brain drain” – that looks certain to harm the economy for decades to come.
Furthermore, the current emigration rate from the UK for all age groups is the highest since the 1900s, with 693,000 long-term departures in the year ending June 2025. This number covers both British and non-British nationals because thousands of people who came to Britain in search of a better life have now decided either to return home or to go to other more prosperous countries.
Back in 2022, 414,000 people emigrated from Britain, meaning the last three years have seen a staggering 67 percent growth of people who left the country.
Among the 693,000 people that left the UK over the past year, it is particularly worrying that 257,000 are British nationals. The previous ONS (Office for National Statistics) estimate for Britons expected to leave in a year stood at 77,000, meaning that the current emigration of British nationals is three times higher than predicted.
Every day 704 British nationals emigrate, voting with their feet against the current situation in their country. According to the ONS, among the British nationals, the two biggest age groups leaving the UK are young people: leading the annual exodus are the 16-24 and the 25-34 age groups, each with 87,000 people: that’s the equivalent of an almost full Wembley stadium for each age group.
It is true that 143,000 British nationals returned to the UK, but the net migration is hugely negative. The net emigration (allowing for immigration too) for the 16-24 age group is 59,000 people and for the 25-34 age group it is 52,000. The only age groups where more Britons are returning to the UK than are leaving are the older ones, namely above 55 year olds, especially among 65+ year olds.
Britain’s youth exodus follows the massive and unprecedented “capital flight”, which I highlighted in July, caused by 10-fold increase in millionaires leaving the UK from 2022 to 2025. Additionally, the UK has the lowest birth rate ever, with only 1.4 children per woman, one third below 2.1, the bare minimum for maintaining the population.
This is happening in front of our eyes, and with an alarming series of consequences – for our universities and our employers, with Gen Z and millennials increasingly finding better opportunities in the US, Australia, UAE, Singapore and other places with lower taxes. They are leaving Labour’s ideological and dogmatic warfare against those who contribute most to the public finances; the tax hikes, non-dom purges, inheritance-tax grabs, VAT on school fees, capital-gains hikes, inheritance taxes for farmers and much more.
The British youth exodus means that it is highly likely that these current 20, 25 and 30 year olds will contribute elsewhere for the next 30 to 40 years.
They will instead build wealth for other countries, raising their families out of the UK. They will spend their most productive years and pay their taxes abroad, avoiding Labour’s smash-and-grab policies. Next, they will invite their siblings and friends abroad. The exodus from the UK is contagious. The word is out that the world is, on the one hand, full of big opportunities but, on the other hand, small and available like never before.
Rathbones, the wealth and asset management group, revealed a poll in November 2025, that 12 per cent of the UK’s SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) owners – around 680,000 businesses – are planning to relocate abroad due to high taxes. One-third of these intend to move both themselves and their companies abroad, chilling numbers indeed.
These trends have been echoed by recent covers of The Economist magazine. “Is Britain going bust?” the magazine asked in its September 27 to October 3 2025 issue. The cover of the November 29 to December 5 2025 issue had an image of Rachel Reeves clutching an empty brief case, with the headline “Britain’s bodge-it”.
As Margaret Thatcher astutely observed: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”. This over-spending, over-taxing Labour government is actively chasing away productive people, their businesses and net contributors.
Labour politicians and their supporters seem set on driving their car off a steep cliff: they are borrowing more and more money, at a higher rate, just to pay to people who don’t work. Meanwhile, the costs of borrowing are increasing with the 10-year government bond yield at around 4.5 percent, showing no confidence in the current economic trajectory.
The current Labour Government has reminded the British people why they rarely give them confidence, particularly when it comes to the economy. Their approval rating currently stands at around 18 per cent in my latest poll. It’s a chronic case of buyers’ remorse. so soon after their landslide victory.
Britain is becoming un-investable, with an accumulation of troubles such as economic decline, unbearable taxes, inflation, low public safety, unsecure borders, rising crime, unaffordable housing, long NHS waiting lists, woke curriculum in schools and poor public services. More and more people simply don’t want to live in such a country which is why so many are choosing to leave.
People from Poland and the Baltics are leaving the UK, since their home nations now have thriving market economies, lower taxes, and safe streets, after so many eastern European countries rejected communism and embraced the free market. Last year 7,000 Poles arrived in the UK, while 25,000 left the UK to return to Poland.
This sinking feeling and toxic situation need to be met by bold, generational reforms, by courageous politicians and real leaders, who will not shy away from their historic responsibility towards the British people and this great country of ours. This economic and societal decline must be overcome, or the UK will land on the periphery of global affairs and finances.
The UK simply cannot afford a decade of youth exodus, capital flight and social decay. Britain needs to be a place for global commerce and innovation – where its streets are safe, where the young want to stay, either to run their own business or to take on a rewarding job, and perhaps to start a family of their own too.
Britain and its people need a government that will reward work and initiative, not welfare and dependency. The UK has badly lost it way and for the sake of its youth, more than any other age group, it needs to get quickly back on track. The future prosperity of the UK depends on it.