MORE PEOPLE LEAVE LONDON FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE UK THAN ARRIVE - AND THE GAP IS GROWING
IT used to be called the brain drain to London - but exclusive analysis reveals the capital is hemorrhaging people at an alarming rate.
A whopping 336,014 people left London to move to other parts of the UK last year - while just 229,406 moved from other parts of the UK to London.
It means London suffered a net loss in the UK of 106,608 people - or more than 292 a day, on average.
The figures are included in new data published by the Office for National Statistics.
It is by far the biggest net loss suffered by an area in England and Wales, and perhaps proves that the city is not as popular as it used to be.
The South West of England saw 34,019 more people move to the area than leave, giving it the biggest net gain in the country.
That was followed by the East Midlands, which had a net gain of 19,813 people.
The North West of England made a net gain of 10,684, and the East of England 8,809.
Wales was next and was a net importer of people from other parts of the UK.
Some 67,694 people moved into Wales from other areas, while 60,308 went the other way.
The South East of England, the West Midlands, and the North East of England all saw net gains of people moving to their respective areas. The only place other than London that suffer a net loss was Yorkshire and the Humber, with 664 fewer people moving to the area than left. The capital city’s net loss of 106,608 people in 2017 is more than double the figure from five years earlier. Comparable records go back as far as 2012. That year, some 203,443 people moved to London from other parts of the UK, while 255,141 moved from London to another part of the UK. That works out as a net loss of 51,698. The net loss grew to 55,027 the following year and was up to 68,834 by 2014.
It has continued to grow each year since then.
One reason why evermore people are leaving London could be because of rising house prices, which remain substantially cheaper elsewhere in England and Wales.
Stephen Clarke, senior economic analyst for Resolution Foundation, a living standards think tank, said: “London is a net exporter of people to the rest of the UK.
“This is likely due to high housing costs with figures suggesting that people are leaving London when they have children and want to put down roots, a struggle given property prices in the capital. “London needs to get a handle on its high housing costs if its ‘living standards exodus’ is to be stopped. “To do this, the number of new homes built needs to match the capital’s housing needs. “Furthermore, a significant proportion of new housing stock needs to be genuinely affordable – and that should apply to both homes to rent, and to buy.”