- 42 percent of British respondents bracing for recession
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UK citizens at home confident of personal finances despite Brexit
worries - 1 in 10 choose Johnson or Gove as successor; Thatcher makes a comeback
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–More than a third of British expats (34 percent) are already actively
seeking a formal farewell to their home country due Brexit, and a
further 5 percent will seek citizenship for themselves and/or their
family in case of a hard Brexit, according to a survey commissioned by
international money transfer service CurrencyFair.
The survey, concluding in May, compared British expats’ preferred Brexit
outcomes and plans for Brexit with the views of British citizens
residing at home. Expats living in EU countries that are expected to be
most significantly impacted by Brexit were surveyed, including Germany,
France, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Voting with their passports
Over half of the British citizens living outside of the UK surveyed are
worried about their citizenship rights as an expat (53 percent), and
half (50 percent) are concerned about their citizenship rights in
commonwealth countries due to Brexit, which may be a trigger for the
rush to seek a citizenship berth outside of their birth country.
“Expats tend to be at the leading edge of the intersection between
personal finance and current events, and their behaviour is a barometer
for bigger trends and changes,” said Paul Byrne, CEO of CurrencyFair.
“Our research indicates that Brexit may be forcing the hand of expats to
seek citizenship they might not otherwise seek, as they search for
viable options in the event of a hard Brexit and any negative economic
consequences.”
Bracing for a recession
In addition to alternative citizenship, a quarter of British expats
surveyed say they plan to brace for a recession in the event of a hard
Brexit, and plan to liquidate UK assets (17 percent) or transfer money
abroad (13 percent) if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. A
third of expats noted that when choosing a provider to transfer money to
and from the UK, transparency about fees charged ranks first as the most
important aspect, tied with security and trust in service provider.
“People are hearing our message that paying marked up exchange rates and
hidden fees for currency exchange isn’t sustainable for expats from a
personal finance perspective,” Byrne said
Overall, expats are more worried than UK residents about the uncertainty
surrounding the UK’s departure from the EU, from the amount of debt they
currently have (42 percent for expats versus 20 percent for UK
residents), to the impact of Brexit on their retirement (52 percent
expats versus 34 percent in the UK), and their ability to buy the things
they want (52 percent expats versus 41 percent in the UK).
This worry is translating into immediate action for many expats who
revealed they are already focusing on paying off any unsecured debt (16
percent versus 12 percent in the UK), moving investments to lower risk
funds (14 percent versus five percent in the UK), and changing
retirement plans (14 percent versus two percent in the UK).
The survey revealed that UK citizens residing at home have a certain
confidence when it comes to their own finances. While 54 percent are
concerned that the UK economic situation will worsen over the next 12
months, the same percentage believe their individual economic situation
will either stay the same or improve. Additionally, the majority of UK
residents (54 percent) indicate they plan to do nothing if there is a
no-deal Brexit beyond bracing for a recession (42 percent).
“The survey suggests that expats and UK citizens residing at home have
contrasting views when it comes to how they anticipate Brexit will
affect their lives. It’s clear that when it comes to Brexit, where one
stands on the issues depends on where one sits in the world,” said Byrne.
The Irish question
In the Brexit blame game, the Irish government gets off scot-free. Only
four percent of British expats surveyed hold the Irish government
responsible, despite assertions in some media quarters that the Irish
government has ‘overplayed its hand’ on Brexit. A full twenty-seven
percent of British expats in Ireland, however, blame the mainstream
media or ‘fake news’ for the state of Brexit negotiations.
Interestingly, British expats living in Ireland are significantly more
likely than others to blame the British public for the current state of
affairs. Twenty-seven percent say the British public is at fault,
compared to just 16 percent of expats in other countries that blame
their fellow countrymen.
Leadership vacuum
The likes of British prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron,
however, take the lion’s share of blame for the current state of Brexit
negotiations. Both UK citizens residing at home and expats struggled to
suggest an appropriate alternative, with only one in 10 expats choosing
Michael Gove, and one in 10 UK citizens residing at home choosing Boris
Johnson. When asked which notable person – living or dead – would have
Brexit sorted by now if they were in charge, 32 percent of UK nationals
said former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and 24 percent said they
felt former prime minister Winston Churchill would get the job done.
Expats living in France and Germany felt leaders in their adoptive
countries, president Emmanuel Macron and chancellor Angela Merkel,
respectively, would do a better job handling Brexit. Kylie Minogue
ranked second in both Germany and The Netherlands with 15 percent and 18
percent respectively choosing the singer. Twelve percent of expats
surveyed in the Netherlands chose Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, formerly
known as Meghan Markle.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample
size was 664 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th April – 2nd
May 2019. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been
weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
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CurrencyFair is an international money transfer platform focused on
providing the best available exchange rates and experience for customers
who need to send money and make payments overseas. CurrencyFair’s
150,000 strong user-community have traded more than €8 billion and saved
more than €205 million using the service. Our unique peer-to-peer model
and secure, state-of-the-art technology, raises the industry standard in
designing technology-led foreign currency services for web, IOS and
Android use. The company has offices in Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong
and Australia, and announced plans to expand further across Asia in 2019
after acquiring Convoy Payments (Hong Kong) in December 2018.
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Contacts
Killeen Kelly
[email protected]
+353
87 380 6879
