Each month, our data analyst Beulah Berrisford will provide a flavour of some of the data she has been looking at that is relevant to our industry. Here’s a quick look into the effects UK emigration has had on the Removals and Storage industries…
After the pandemic, British emigration figures fell dramatically, plummeting to a ten-year low of 422,000 in 2022. Fortunately for movers, this number is slowly recovering. Pre-Covid in 2019, emigration from Britain was 605,000, and at the end of Dec 2024, preliminary figures estimated 517,000 emigrants.
However, the composition of emigrant nationalities has changed: the number of British nationals emigrating has fallen by 50%, with only 77,000 leaving the country in 2024, down from 153,000 in 2019. The recovery of national emigration figures is mainly due to non-EU foreign nationals, the only group whose emigration rates where higher in 2024 than 2019. This change in the make-up of British emigration has possible ramifications for the self-storage industry.
Data Headlines:
Emigrants are defined as anyone who intends to stay outside of Britain for a period of 12 months or more. This means that many British emigrants are likely to return, since this group includes students, people caring for family abroad, and those moving for work.
The makeup of emigrants has changed. In 2019, British nationals made up 25% of those leaving, but by the end of 2024, they were only 15%.
- In 2023, 62% of UK emigrants returned, with 61,000 out of 99,000 coming back. In comparison, international data shows a much lower return rate of 42%.
- In 2024, 85% of people leaving the UK were foreign nationals. Since foreign-born migrants are much less likely to return, this could lead to fewer goods being put into self-storage.
While recovering emigration can be positive for removers, having a greater proportion of foreign nationals in the UK’s emigration makeup may mean a lower amount of belongings being placed into self-storage. This could effect occupancy rates, leading to higher storage fees as self-storage companies try to protect profits.
Sources:
IZA World of Labor – Who benefits from return migration to developing countries?
