British diaspora

A world map showing the distribution and concentration of Britons by country.
Legend:

  > 1,000,000

  < 1,000,000

  <500,000

  <100,000

  <50,000

  <10,000

  <5,000

  <1,000

  <100 or No Data

  UK

The British diaspora consists of British people and their descendants who emigrated from the present-day United Kingdom, or people who have acquired British Nationality through colonisation. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Hong Kong, as well as parts of the Caribbean and continental Europe, such as Spain. A 2006 publication from the Institute for Public Policy Research estimated 5.5 million British-born people lived outside of the United Kingdom.

According to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office there were 13.1 million British nationals living abroad in 2004–05. These figures are taken from the consular annual returns from overseas posts. There is no requirement for UK citizens to register with British missions overseas and therefore these figures are based on the most reliable information that can be obtained e.g. from host government official statistics.

After the Age of Discovery the various peoples of the British Isles, and especially the English, were among the earliest and by far the largest communities to emigrate out of Europe, and the British Empire's expansion during the first half of the 19th century saw an extraordinary dispersion of the British people, with particular concentrations in Australasia and North America.

The British Empire was "built on waves of migration overseas by British people", who left Great Britain, later the United Kingdom, and reached across the globe and permanently affected population structures in three continents. As a result of the British colonisation of the Americas, what became the United States was "easily the greatest single destination of emigrant British", but in the Federation of Australia the British experienced a birth rate higher than anything seen before, resulting in the displacement of indigenous Australians.

In colonies such as Southern Rhodesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jamaica, Barbados, British East Africa and the Cape Colony, permanently resident British communities were established and while never more than a numerical minority these Britons exercised a dominant influence upon the culture and politics of those lands. In Australia, Canada and New Zealand people of British origin came to constitute the majority of the population contributing to these states becoming integral to the Anglosphere.

The British emigrated not only to parts of the British Empire but they went to settle in large numbers in America, particularly in the north. United States and Canada have large British-descended populations. In Latin America, Argentina and Brazil have large British-descended populations.

The United Kingdom Census 1861 estimated the size of the overseas British to be around 2.5 million, but concluded that most of these were "not conventional settlers" but rather "travellers, merchants, professionals, and military personnel". By 1890, there were over 1.5 million further British-born people living in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

British people abroad today

In terms of outbound expatriation, in 2009 the United Kingdom had the most expatriates among developed OECD countries with more than three million British living abroad, followed by Germany and Italy. On an annual basis, emigration from Britain has stood at about 400,000 per year for the past 10 years. Expatriates from the UK have the advantage of being able to convert their existing pension scheme into a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS), often providing tax advantages in other countries with lower tax rates.

The British Mental Health Act 1983 rules that persons resident abroad do not qualify as "nearest relative" of a person who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

British people by country

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates

The following table lists the estimated number of British people (defined as people who are British Subjects, such as British citizen, British National Overseas or British Overseas Citizen) living overseas in countries with more than 100 British:

Rank	Country	Number of British residents	Region(s)	Group(s)
1	Australia	1,300,000	Asia Pacific	Anglo-Celtic Australian, Cornish Australian, English Australian, Scottish Australian, Welsh Australian
2	Spain	761,000	European Union	Britons in Spain
3	United States	678,000	North America	British American, Cornish American, English American, Welsh American, Scottish American, Scotch-Irish American
4	Canada	603,000	North America	English Canadian, Scottish Canadian, Welsh Canadian, Cornish Canadian
5	Ireland	291,000	Europe
6	New Zealand	215,000	Asia Pacific	British New Zealander, Scottish New Zealander
7	South Africa	212,000	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
8	France	200,000	Europe (and other continents)	Britons in France
9	Germany	115,000	Europe
10	Cyprus	59,000	Mid East
11	UAE	55,000	Mid East	Britons in the United Arab Emirates
12	Pakistan	47,000	Asia	Britons in Pakistan
13	Singapore	45,000	Asia Pacific
14	Switzerland	45,000	Europe
15	Israel	44,000	Mid East
16	Netherlands	44,000	Europe
17	Thailand	41,000	Asia Pacific
18	Portugal	38,000	Europe
19	China (including Hong Kong)	36,000	Asia Pacific	Britons in Hong Kong
20	Turkey	34,000	Eur/Mid East	Britons in Turkey
21	India	32,000	Asia	Anglo-Indian
22	Kenya	29,000	Africa
23	Belgium	28,000	Europe
24	Barbados	27,000	Caribbean
25	Saudi Arabia	26,000	Mid East
26	Italy	26,000	Europe
27	Jamaica	25,000	Caribbean
28	Japan	23,000	Asia Pacific	Britons in Japan
29	Sweden	18,000	Europe
30	Greece	18,000	Europe
31	Nigeria	16,000	Africa
32	Norway	15,000	Europe
33	Egypt	14,000	Africa	Britons in Egypt
34	Philippines	14,000	Asia Pacific
35	Malaysia	13,000	Asia Pacific
36	Trinidad and Tobago	11,000	Caribbean
37	Brazil	11,000	South America	English Brazilian, Scottish Brazilian
38	Bahrain	11,000	Mid East
39	Gaza & West Bank	11,000	Mid East
40	Indonesia	11,000	Asia Pacific
41	Denmark	11,000	Europe
42	Bangladesh	9,200	Asia
43	Malta	9,000	Europe
44	Mexico	8,500	North America
45	Austria	8,500	Europe
46	Argentina	8,300	South America	English Argentine, Irish Argentine, Welsh Argentine, Scottish Argentine
47	Qatar	8,100	Mid East
48	Oman	7,800	Mid East
49	Malawi	7,400	Africa
50	Venezuela	7,200	South America
51	Jordan	7,200	Mid East
52	Kuwait	7,100	Mid East
53	Czech Republic	6,800	Europe
54	Brunei	6,400	Asia Pacific
55	Macao	6,300	Asia Pacific
56	Zimbabwe	6,100	Africa
57	Russia	6,100	Europe
58	Ghana	5,900	Africa
59	Zambia	5,800	Africa
60	Poland	5,600	Europe
61	Tanzania	5,500	Africa
62	Luxembourg	5,500	Europe
63	Chile	5,200	South America	British Chilean, English Chilean, Scottish Chilean, Irish Chilean, Welsh Chilean
64	Hungary	5,200	Europe
65	Botswana	5,000	Africa
66	Costa Rica	4,800	North America
67	Peru	4,600	South America	British Peruvian
68	Romania	4,500	Europe
69	Sri Lanka	4,400	Asia	Burgher people
70	Bahamas	4,100	Caribbean
71	Vietnam	3,800	Asia Pacific
72	Colombia	3,600	South America
73	Libya	3,600	Africa
74	Gibraltar	3,600	Europe
75	Yemen	3,400	Mid East
76	South Korea	3,400	Asia Pacific
77	Iran	2,900	Mid East
78	Antigua/Barbuda	2,800	Caribbean
79	Finland	2,800	Europe
80	Nepal	2,700	Asia
81	Grenada	2,500	Caribbean
82	Uganda	2,500	Africa
83	Ecuador	2,400	South America
84	Morocco	2,400	Africa
85	Azerbaijan	2,400	Europe
86	Swaziland	2,300	Africa
87	Guyana	2,200	South America
88	Lebanon	2,200	Mid East
89	Syria	2,200	Mid East
90	Belize	2,000	North America
91	Sierra Leone	2,000	Africa
92	Iraq	2,000	Mid East
93	Guatemala	1,900	North America
94	Dominica	1,800	Caribbean
95	Netherlands Antilles	1,800	Caribbean
96	Seychelles	1,800	Africa
97	Namibia	1,700	Africa
98	Mauritania	1,600	Africa
99	Serbia-Montenegro	1,600	Europe
100	St Lucia	1,500	Caribbean
101	Gambia	1,500	Africa
102	Mozambique	1,400	Africa
103	Tunisia	1,400	Africa
104	St Vincent/Grenadines	1,300	Caribbean
105	Ethiopia	1,300	Africa
106	Sudan	1,300	Africa
107	Ivory Coast	1,200	Africa
108	Dominican Republic	1,100	Caribbean
109	Panama	1,000	North America
110	British Virgin Islands	1,000	Caribbean
111	Cambodia	1,000	Asia Pacific
112	Honduras	950	North America
113	Macedonia	950	Europe
114	Papua New Guinea	940	Asia Pacific
115	Iceland	940	Europe
116	Falklands	930	South America
117	Afghanistan	900	Asia
118	Ukraine	900	Europe
119	Croatia	890	Europe
120	St Kitts & Nevis	880	Caribbean
121	Bulgaria	800	Europe
122	Kazakhstan	770	Asia
123	Estonia	750	Europe
124	Mauritius	740	Africa
125	Slovakia	740	Europe
126	Uruguay	690	South America
127	Angola	650	Africa
128	Algeria	630	Africa
129	Bermuda	600	Caribbean
130	Bosnia-Herzegovina	540	Europe
131	Fiji	500	Asia Pacific
132	Bolivia	470	South America
133	Burma	460	Asia Pacific	Anglo-Burmese
134	Nicaragua	410	North America
135	El Salvador	390	North America
136	DR Congo	390	Africa
137	Latvia	370	Europe
138	Lesotho	350	Africa
139	Mongolia	340	Asia Pacific
140	Paraguay	330	South America
141	Slovenia	330	Europe
142	Monaco	320	Europe
143	Cameroon	300	Africa
144	Madagascar	300	Africa
145	Lithuania	290	Europe
146	Vanuatu	270	Asia Pacific
147	Anguilla	260	Caribbean
148	Senegal	220	Africa
149	Andorra	210	Europe
150	Tajikistan	200	Asia
151	Georgia	200	Europe
152	Tonga	190	Asia Pacific
153	Albania	190	Europe
154	Cuba	160	Caribbean
155	Montserrat	160	Caribbean
156	Uzbekistan	130	Asia
157	Cayman Islands	110	Caribbean
158	Djibouti	110	Africa
-	Greenland	<100	North America
-	Haiti	<100	Caribbean
-	Puerto Rico	<100	Caribbean
-	Turks & Caicos	<100	Caribbean
-	US Virgin Islands	<100	Caribbean
-	Surinam	<100	South America
-	Benin	<100	Africa
-	Burkina Faso	<100	Africa
-	Cape Verde	<100	Africa
-	Central African Republic	<100	Africa
-	Chad	<100	Africa
-	Congo	<100	Africa
-	Guinea	<100	Africa
-	Liberia	<100	Africa
-	Niger	<100	Africa
-	Rwanda	<100	Africa
-	Somalia	<100	Africa
-	St Helena	<100	Africa
-	Togo	<100	Africa
-	Bhutan	<100	Asia
-	Kyrgyzstan	<100	Asia
-	Maldives	<100	Asia
-	Turkmenistan	<100	Asia
-	Cook Islands	<100	Asia Pacific
-	French Polynesia	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Guam	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Kiribati	<100	Asia Pacific
-	New Caledonia	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Norfolk Island	<100	Asia Pacific
-	North Korea	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Samoa	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Solomon Islands	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Taiwan	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Tuvalu	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Armenia	<100	Europe
-	Belarus	<100	Europe
-	Faroe Islands	<100	Europe
-	Liechtenstein	<100	Europe
-	Moldova	<100	Europe
-	San Marino	<100	Europe

^ Note: A different estimate puts China (incl. Hong Kong) ahead with a population of 3,750,000 Britons, most of which are those in Hong Kong who have continued to possess British nationality, particularly the British nationals (overseas) status, which numbered 3.4 million, through their connection with the former crown colony (see British nationality and Hong Kong for further details).

See also

• Anglosphere

References

Notes

Bibliography