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British Nationals Abroad

Volume 506: debated on Tuesday 23 February 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of UK citizens living abroad in (a) each other EU member state and (b) all non-EU countries in (i) 1980, (ii) 1990, (iii) 2000 and (iv) the most recent year for which figures are available. (317719)

Our network of overseas posts has in the past been asked to provide an estimate of the number of British nationals resident in their consular area. The latest figures available are for 2006-07. Figures are also available for 1990 and 2000, but not 1980. The results of each of these surveys are shown in the following table.

Estimated size of the British national community

Country

2006-07

2000

1990

Austria

7,369

7,000

5,100

Belgium

39,867

30,200

28,500

Bulgaria

1,700

325

55

Cyprus

60,000

54,000

18,000

Czech Republic

3,183

0

83

Denmark

13,183

12,630

10,474

Estonia

220

200

Finland

4,350

3,200

1,300

France

381,000

156,050

43,000

Germany

115,554

164,324

92,445

Greece

31,470

144,085

21,300

Hungary

2,640

3,000

275

Ireland

112,548

0

50,000

Italy

71,990

61,000

35,000

Latvia

400

200

Lithuania

250

160

Luxembourg

4,480

5,000

2,894

Malta

6,000

6,000

3,000

Netherlands

73,600

40,000

50,000

Poland

2,531

10,000

881

Portugal

34,624

31,597

16,300

Romania

6,000

3,000

36

Slovakia

1,000

750

Slovenia

157

350

Spain

840,989

949,550

121,500

Sweden

15,000

17,500

14,000

Non-EU

10,283,651

11,000,718

5,500,000

Total

12,113,756

12,700,839

6,014,143

Note:

Based on overseas posts’ estimates of the number of British nationals within their consular area.