Record number of Britons moving abroad

A record number of people from the UK are choosing to emigrate, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that last year, 406,000 people living in Britain opted to move abroad.

Although many of these were found to be earlier immigrants returning home, about half were said to be British nationals.

A total of 202,000 UK citizens emigrated to foreign shores last year - the highest amount ever recorded under the current measuring system.

The ONS added that people from Britain are choosing to set up home in many different parts of the world.

For example, some were said to be moving to English-speaking nations such as Australia, while others favoured short-haul countries including Spain.

This follows figures from HiFX which revealed a recent surge of interest in buying property in Australia.

According to the firm, the country was the subject of ten per cent of the enquiries it received into moving abroad in April 2008.