UK countryside the thing British expats miss most

The things expats miss most about the UK is the countryside, according to a new survey conducted by international bank Lloyds TSB International.

The British sense of humour and pub also featured heavily for most respondents, but the countryside was the most popular choice with 46 per cent. Expats living in the United Arab Emirates’ desert landscape long for the countryside the most though, with 85 per cent saying it was one of the three things they missed more than anything else.

Just behind the great outdoors was the British sense of humour, which was chosen by 42 per cent. Pubs followed very closely behind, being selected by 41 per cent of the 1,034 expats surveyed. British émigrés who now live in Germany were the ones found to miss the British sense of humour the most (65 per cent), followed by those living in Canada (60 per cent). Expats in South Africa were next (54 per cent), while pubs were the most missed by British expats in Australia than anywhere else.

Politics and the weather were listed as the least missed aspects of UK life, both of which only collected five per cent of the vote. However, 21 per cent of those who have taken up residence in South Africa did admit they missed our political system.

However, despite these pangs for small elements of the British culture, it was found that expats are generally happy in their new life abroad – with 68 per cent agreeing with this statement, as opposed to the seven per cent who said they had been happier in the UK.

Commenting, Lloyds TSB International Nicholas Boys Smith said: “Many expats have an element of the adventurer about them, but they still long for certain aspects of British life that some people here might take for granted.”

“Often you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone so it speaks glowingly of our countryside that expats around the world miss it so much,” he added. “An overwhelming majority are happy with their life overseas, but the British countryside, as well as our sense of humour and the Great British pub, are all things that they miss abroad."