Financial News

More Young Professionals On The Move Overseas

More young professionals and creatives are moving abroad than ever before, according to overseas relocation experts.

Inquiries to move between countries from the 18 to 35-year-old age group increased by 60% over the past 12 months, says Movehub.

The company suggests so many young adults want to move around the world because they have fewer ties holding them back.

“Today’s young people have considerably less spending power than their parents’ generation, and long-term investments such as buying a house are considered a pipe dream by many,” said the firm’s Patrick Gilligan.

” It’s not surprising, then, that many young professionals are breaking ties with their birth countries and seeking a more affordable and better standard of living overseas.”

Researchers asked 20,000 expat movers why they wanted to leave their home country.

Job prospects

Most were attracted by better job prospects and financial benefits of moving to a developed country.

But the traditional big three expat countries – the US, UK and Australia – all saw a drop in the number of inquiries, explained Gilligan.

“The UK took the biggest hit as inbound international moves plummeted by 22% whilst Australia saw 6% fewer expats arriving at its shores, suggesting that the high cost of living in these countries is forcing many people to consider alternative destinations,” he said.

Besides the big three, other top 10 countries attracting expats are Spain, Canada, France, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland and Portugal.

Surprise entrants into the top 30 relocation destinations were Reunion and Guadeloupe.

Movehub explained their popularity as due to more people retiring to the French overseas enclaves from their home country.

Social media also seems to influence move decisions as Iceland and Ireland have surged up the rankings on the back of TV’s Game of Thrones publicity, while Denmark’s hygge revolution has also triggered a lot of interest.

Download the full report [PDF]

Top 30 Expat Destinations

Source: Movehub

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