One of the principle issues in the 2016 Brexit referendum was immigration, and the period marked the culmination in a long-term aim among the governing Conservative party to create a ‘hostile environment’ to migrants.

It should perhaps come as little surprise, therefore, that a new paper from Oxford University shows that there is a general ‘brain drain’ away from the United Kingdom in the wake of the referendum.  It suggests that many, including British citizens themselves, are deciding to invest their futures in continental Europe rather than the UK.

“For destination countries of the European Union, Brexit-induced collective uncertainty marks a significant rise in arrivals of British citizens, which is, in some cases, large enough to alter a country’s immigrant composition, especially with regard to linguistics background and education levels,” the researchers say. “The uncertain situation also prolongs migration episodes, with many Brits making their move permanent by acquiring citizenship rights of their destination countries.”

After analyzing data from the OECD and Eurostat, the researchers reveal that migration away from the UK towards the EU increased by 30% compared to before Brexit, with the number of British citizens obtaining EU member state passports growing by 500% across the continent, and by a whopping 2000% in Germany.

The authors believe this is clearly a result of Brexit, as migration flows across the rest of the EU has remained stable across the same period.  They believe the results clearly show that many UK citizens are making long-term migration decisions to insulate themselves from the negative effects of Brexit.

Major shock

Indeed, the transformation in migration patterns are so pronounced that you would not ordinarily see changes of this magnitude outside of a major political or economic crisis befalling a nation.

When the researchers delved into the matter more via interviews with British citizens from across Germany, it revealed a range of measures taken to deal with the impact of Brexit.  Consistently, people were taking decisions far faster than they would ordinarily do, which resulted in an increase in risk-taking behaviors.

Indeed, for many of those who migrated after the referendum, they took a hit to their income in order to do so, whereas prior to the referendum, migration would typically occur when pay rises were on the table.

On a more positive note, however, was that, in Germany at least, many UK citizens who had migrated reported a greater desire to integrate into their local communities after Brexit, with a greater commitment to their host country as a result.  This involves learning the language and working in the local community.

“We’re observing a new social migration phenomena and a redefining of what it means to be British-European,” the researchers explain.