Young people are ‘quiet quitting’ the UK – but where are they going and is it really any better?

1. Lifestyle

As new stats reveal that Gen Z are leaving the UK in droves, Helen Coffey digs into the suprising hot new locations to set up shop, and whether the expat reality lives up to the dream

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice

There’s been a lot of talk about how the UK’s richest people are threatening to turn tail and leave the country (usually due to the suggestion that they pay a bit more tax on their vast swathes of wealth). But while these multi-millionaires can talk the talk, it turns out they’re not the ones actually walking the walk.

In reality, it’s the nation’s young people who are “quiet quitting” the UK in droves, according to new ONS figures. Net migration – the number of people coming to the UK versus the number departing – fell by 445,000 between June 2024 and June 2025. During those 12 months, 693,000 individuals left the British Isles, the biggest number in a century.

And Gen Z were first in line for the exit. When the figures were broken down by age, 87,000 16 to 24-year-old British nationals left, as did 87,000 25 to 34-year-olds, in the 12 months to March – far more than in any other age bracket. Dubbed the “brain drain”, this mass exodus is indicative of a generation that sees better opportunities elsewhere.

Earlier this year, 24-year-old Cambridge graduate Ray Amjad told The Independent that he’d decided to emigrate to Japan after travelling to 20 countries opened his eyes to his home nation’s problems: petty crime, train strikes, overpriced accommodation, crumbling public services and, of course, the famous British weather.

“I was paying tens of thousands of pounds in tax – and then your phone ends up getting stolen out of your hand in the street,” he says. “What am I paying all that tax for?” Add to that what he saw as a cap on ambition in Britain, and Amjad concluded that packing in his lucrative graduate job in favour of starting his own business abroad would be the smart call.

• Can you blame young people like me for fleeing Britain?
• Starmer has another problem – young people are leaving Britain in droves

Maja Anushka, 27, jumped at the chance to relocate to Germany on sabbatical after a steadily growing disillusionment with the UK, and London in particular. “Wanting to leave was definitely a big motivator,” she says. “I had total burnout in every single aspect of my life before I left.” This was in part due to exorbitant living costs, and in part due to what she calls the “toxic” political climate. “It feels like everyone is so angry and frustrated and taking it out on each other, and I can totally see why young people are just saying, ‘OK, cool – I’m tapping out of this’,” she adds.

It’s clear why fed-up Gen Z are getting the hell out of Dodge in search of a better life, but which places are top of the relocation wish list?

Australia seems to be up there for desirability. Aside from the plentiful sunshine and chilled-out, surf’s-up lifestyle sold to us via Home and Away, Oz is particularly appealing due to its amended working holiday visa. In 2023, the eligibility criteria was extended to include British passport holders from 18 up to the age of 35 (the limit was previously 30). They can apply for this year-long visa three times, staying up to three years, and the previous somewhat onerous requirement to complete 88 days of agricultural labour has been scrapped.

Brits were the fastest-growing nationality to take up these visas between 2024 to 2025, with demand increasing by 80 per cent year-on-year. Katie Strick was one such British expat, having moved from London to Sydney a month after her 31st birthday last September. Writing for The Independent, she said: “I couldn’t afford a mortgage or a decent quality of life in the parts of the city I actually liked any more. I figured I may as well live somewhere sunny and be paid in experiences (yes, all the cliches about taking the ferry to work and swimming with turtles at lunchtime are true).”

Another friend of hers had similarly made the move, he said, because of Australia’s relative safety and low crime rate. Plenty of others have cited better pay and work-life balance.

It feels like everyone is so angry and frustrated and taking it out on each other

Closer to home, certain European countries are attracting young talent, despite Brexit having made it more difficult to live and work elsewhere in the EU. Number one contenders continue to be Spain and Ireland, with the former home to 400,000 British nationals, drawn there by its Mediterranean climate and lower cost of living. As of 2023, Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa allows remote workers and freelancers to obtain a residence permit in Spain, provided they demonstrate a stable remote-work arrangement; have valid health insurance; meet a minimum income threshold of around €2,700 (£2,370) per month; and typically show three months of remote-work history.

Portugal has also emerged as a popular choice, with Lisbon in particular having fashioned itself as a digital nomad utopia. There’s a big expat community – the number of foreign-born residents in Portugal has more than tripled in the last five years – and young people who want to stay longer than 90 days in a 180-day period can apply for several visas, including a start-up visa for entrepreneurs launching innovative projects, or a D8 visa for digital nomads. The gentrification caused by this influx of foreign has put locals’ noses out of joint, though; based on home price to income ratio, Lisbon now tops Europe’s housing unaffordability rankings, which means many are now choosing Porto instead.

For Anushka, Berlin was the destination that caught her eye when she decided to pursue a sabbatical. “It’s just one of the coolest places in the world,” she says. “It’s extremely artistic, it’s very liberal, and it’s really quite cheap considering it’s a major city – but you still get that richness of culture and events.” She also cites a “significantly better” quality of life, food, public transport and public services, alongside a late-night café culture that feels conducive to socialising and meeting new people.

And then there are the emerging European tech hubs luring in our best and brightest. Poland has been namechecked for the past few years, creating a reverse “brain drain” where Polish software developers living in Britain have returned home to earn more money; the number of British citizens who have joined them has hit more than 30,000 over the past decade.

And Thessaloniki has also been given the nod as northern Greece’s emerging innovation hub, given the moniker “Silicon beach” in some circles. Universities in the region turn out fresh tech talent, while initiatives like OK!Thess and Thessaloniki Innovation Zone support local startups. If you are a non-EU or EEA national and would like to live and work in Greece, you can apply for a Digital Nomads Visa as long as your clients or employer are located outside of Greece and you make at least €3,500 (after taxes). Known as the “freelance visa”, this visa allows you to stay in Greece for up to a year and work remotely.

Another location that seems to be drawing in the next gen is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Seen as the backdrop to countless social media posts pedalled by influencers, Dubai in particular has become the ultimate aspirational relocation hotspot.

David Little, a partner at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, has observed a “growing trend of young professionals, typically early-twenties children of our clients, emigrating, with Dubai emerging as a popular destination.” He told The National that economic pressures in the UK, such as rising unemployment and taxes, stagnant wages and soaring living costs, were “driving this shift”.

Conversely, he described Dubai as a “compelling Instagram-friendly package”: tax-free income, housing allowances and health insurance, all drenched in sunshine and blue skies, with a side of lavish poolside snaps and luxury shopping. “It’s easy to see why it’s becoming a top choice for graduates seeking opportunities,” he added.

Stuart Wakeling, head of Henley & Partners in the UK, which helps high net worth people to up sticks, has also noticed an upsurge in demand. The UAE has gone from somewhere that had very little, if any, interest from British clients looking to relocate, to the “number one choice this year”. In the month running up to the recent UK Budget, there was a 342 per cent increase in online searches for “moving to Dubai”, according to analysis published by construction and project management platform Morta.

I figured I may as well live somewhere sunny and be paid in experiences

It’s not all rainbows and unicorns: human rights in the UAE are a world away from those experienced back home. Authorities persist in criminalising the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, according to Amnesty International, while plenty of Westerners have been arrested, jailed or deported over the years for falling foul of the country’s cultural rules. Swearing and making rude gestures, including online, is illegal, as is posting anything thought to be critical of or ridiculing the government – plus kissing, drinking alcohol or being drunk in public. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in the UAE, and same-sex marriages aren’t yet recognised.

But wherever Britain’s young people are going, unless things change, they may well stay away for good. As Anushka puts it: “It’s not to say that every European country abroad is necessarily better. But I can see why young people are willing to give it a go – it doesn’t feel like the situation in the UK is particularly productive or helpful right now.”

More about

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Most popular

Popular videos

Bulletin

Read next