Well-educated expats 'leaving Britain with brain drain'

Britons living abroad are typically young, well-educated, highly skilled and adventurous - contrary to the image of some expatriates, a report says today.

Emigrants from Britain are often involved in business development, civic activism and charity work, according to the report Global Brit: Making the Most of the British Diaspora.

The study from the Institute of Public Policy Research called on the Government and other institutions to help "progressive global" Britons act as a force for good in international affairs.

The report said there were an estimated 5.6 million Britons living abroad. British emigration has dropped by a third since the peak in 2006 when 200,000 people were leaving every year, it said, with return migration "picking up".

But the UK is still experiencing a "brain drain" because so many of its emigrants are highly educated and skilled professional people, according to the report.

In 2006, Britons abroad and other people with links to the UK sent £4.5 billion back in remittances.

The most popular countries of emigration for Britons are Australia, Spain, Canada, the United States and France.

Tim Finch, head of migration at ippr and author of the report, said: "The big British emigration boom of the last decade may be over, and the days when everyone could dream of a place in the sun' are disappearing, but there are still almost as many Britons living and working overseas as there are foreign nationals over here.

"In other words, emigration is as important a phenomenon as immigration."