The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship on Wednesday, December 3, released figures which, showed there was no exodus of Australians from the United Kingdom.
The department took the step following an article in The Times last month, which said the amount of Australians leaving the UK for Australia had increased due to the challenging economic circumstances.
Wednesday’s figures showed this was not the case and that departure numbers remained in line with previous years.
The number of expats returning to Australia were:
May 08: 1,793 (May 07 fig was 1,694, May 06 fig was 1,738)
Jun 08: 1,656 (Jun 07 fig was 1,679, Jun 06 fig was 1,674)
Jul 08: 1,752 (Jul 07 fig was 1,761, Jul 06 fig was 1,907)
Aug 08: 2,275 (Aug 07 fig was 2,146, Aug 06 fig was 2,382)
Sep 08: 2,852 (Sep 07 fig was 2,497, Sep 06 fig was 2,958)
The annual data also shows that about the same number of Australian expats goes home every year:
2000-01: 26,620
2001-02: 28,419
2002-03: 32,077
2003-04: 32,874
2004-05: 32,440
2005-06: 33,555
2006-07: 34,301
2007-08: 32,182
TNT Magazine editor-in-chief Krysten Booth said today’s figures supported what most people already knew – there’s still plenty of Aussies in London.
Booth said the UK would actually see a surge in Australians coming to the country following the introduction of the Youth Mobility Scheme last Thursday (November 27).
The new scheme replaces the Working Holiday Visas (WHV) and will allow Australians under the age of 31 to live and work in the UK for two years. Since early 2005, Australians on a WHV were allowed to live in the UK for two years, but could only work for a maximum 12 months.
“This change to the working holiday arrangements has been in the public domain for most of the year, meaning many Australians have been delaying their move so they could take advantage of being able to work for the full two years,” Booth says.
“With the Ashes on next year, Ricky Ponting and his team can expect thousands more Aussie expats to be on hand to lend their support.”