WHERE HAVE THE FIGURES COME FROM?
The figures for Britons living abroad are 2006 estimates drawn up by the IPPR to inform a report it is publishing into the phenomenon of “Brits abroad”, which includes recommendations for British government policy. The researchers who calculated the figures developed different methods that draw on different statistical sources, each with incomplete coverage and varying degrees of reliability. For example, reliable country census data on the number of British-born or British nationals is available only for a small number of countries. Where figures exist, they are likely to be underestimates as they are out of date (national censuses are typically carried out at the beginning of the decade) and there could have been sizeable growth in the British population since. The only set of data that does cover every country in the world is the number of UK state pensioners who inform the Department for Work and Pensions that they are resident overseas. The number of passports issued over the past
