Beach cities and tax heavens are among the top 10 places Britons would want to live in if money was no issue, new research shows.
In a bid to further discover the motivations and reasoning behind moving abroad, Lottoland.co.uk has undertaken a new study looking at the most popular locations in the world Britons would move to if money were no object.
The lottery website polled a total of 2,039 UK adults all of whom had only ever lived in the UK previously, but all had revealed prior to the research that they would ideally like to move abroad at a later point in their lives.
Participants were initially given an extensive list of popular, ex-pat friendly destinations and cities around the world and asked to reveal the five locations that would appeal to them most for a permanent relocation abroad, if money were no object.
The top 10 results are:
- Sydney, Australia- (17%)
- Barcelona, Spain- (14%)
- Geneva, Switzerland- (11%)
- New York City, United States- (10%)
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates- (8%)
- Miami, United States- (8%)
- Vancouver, Canada- (6%)
- Singapore, Singapore- (5%)
- Auckland, New Zealand- (4%)
- Monte Carlo, Monaco-(4%)
Of the participants taking part, the majority (71 per cent) admitted to researchers that, in their current financial positions, it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to move to any of their chosen destinations.
When asked to reveal what the main appeal behind relocating abroad would be, ‘an improved standard of living’ (48 per cent), ‘guaranteed sunshine’ (23 per cent) and ‘less financial strain and outgoings’ (13 per cent) emerged as the top reasons given.
Furthermore, when asked if there were any non-financial factors that would prevent them from making the decision to emigrate abroad, ‘not wanting to disrupt/upset family and friends’ (67 per cent), ‘the initial language barriers’ (42 per cent) and ‘the risk of not settling into a new life abroad’ (21 per cent) were uncovered as the most likely repellents.
Commenting on the findings Nigel Birrell, CEO of Lottoland.co.uk, said:
“No doubt the majority of us are guilty of allowing ourselves to daydream about one day winning big on a jackpot lottery, or inheriting an amount of money large enough so that we can move abroad and live a life of luxury.
“The results of this study are particularly interesting in that Geneva and Monaco, both notorious as tax-free havens, feature in the top ten. It is also telling that Sydney and Barcelona, both busy, populated cities famous for their beautiful beaches, made the two top spots, indicating Britons would be looking to enjoy the ‘best of both worlds’ from an emigration abroad.”
