Which EU country has the largest number of citizens living overseas?

Europe is a key topic at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2017. Watch the session on 'Which Europe Now?' here.

Immigration is the subject of intense debate in many European countries and is thought to have been a key issue in the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

While there has been much media coverage of the number of people moving to the UK, there has been relatively little attention paid to the number of Brits moving overseas.

In fact the UK has more citizens living overseas than any other European nation – 4.9 million British people live in other countries around the world.

The European picture

When the data is broken down to show the number of EU citizens living in other EU countries, a slightly different picture emerges.

The UK ranks number 5, with Poland, Romania, Germany and Italy all having more citizens outside their own borders but within Europe.

In fact Poland has nearly three times the number of citizens living elsewhere in the EU than the UK does.

Where do Brits go in Europe?

A breakdown of the number of UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU shows that Spain and Ireland are the favoured destinations.

France and Germany are the other two countries which are home to more than 50,000 UK nationals.

Both EU nationals in the UK and UK nationals in the EU face an uncertain future, with no firm decision yet taken on residency rights when Brexit is enacted.

Have you read?
Why Brexit will actually lead to a higher proportion of foreigners entering the UK
Which countries view immigration most favourably?
Why it’s time to see migrants in a new light