Analysis · UK Cost of Living · July 2026

4.5 Million Britons Want to Leave. Here's What's Actually Cheaper.

A PwC survey found 13% of Britons — around 4.5 million people — are seriously considering leaving the UK, driven by cost of living. Young people and Londoners are the most likely to say so. We ran the actual numbers against Yiyang, China. Here's the line-by-line comparison.

The Survey Behind the Headline

In early 2026, PwC published consumer confidence research that should have made bigger headlines than it did. UK consumer confidence recorded its sharpest quarterly decline in four years — worse, by PwC's own comparison, than the confidence hit during the onset of the war in Ukraine. Eighty percent of respondents said they plan to cut household spending in the coming months. And in a separate but related finding widely reported by outlets covering UK relocation trends: roughly 13% of Britons — an estimated 4.5 million people — say they are seriously considering leaving the UK, with young people and Londoners the most likely to say so.

This isn't a fringe sentiment. It's a mainstream, survey-measured response to a genuinely difficult set of numbers. So we did what most commentary on this topic doesn't bother to do: we priced out the actual alternative, line by line, using a real place — not a vague gesture at "Southeast Asia" or "digital nomad visas," but an actual city with actual apartment listings.

What Life Actually Costs in the UK Right Now

Let's start with the honest, unflattering numbers, because most people underestimate the sheer weight of the essentials.

According to February 2026 ONS data, average private rent nationally is £1,367/month, but that average hides enormous regional variation. In London specifically, average rent for a one-bedroom flat runs £2,100–2,253/month; a single professional renting in central London, once you add typical living costs (food, utilities, council tax, transport), is looking at a realistic total of roughly £2,867–3,363 per month.

Outside London, it's better but still substantial: Manchester runs around £1,750/month all-in for a single professional; Birmingham and Leeds somewhat less. Council tax alone averages £181/month for a Band D property in England. The 2026 Ofgem energy price cap puts a typical dual-fuel household bill at roughly £142–145/month, on top of water, broadband, and mobile costs that add another £100+ combined.

None of this is exotic or cherry-picked. This is the ordinary, unremarkable monthly reality behind the 4.5 million people telling pollsters they're thinking about leaving.

The Same Life, Priced in Yiyang

Yiyang is a city of roughly 4 million people in Hunan Province, south-central China. It is not Shanghai, and it has no meaningful expat scene — which is precisely why costs haven't been bid up the way they have in more "discovered" relocation destinations.

A furnished 3-bedroom apartment rents for roughly ¥1,200–2,200/month — $167–306 USD. Residential electricity runs approximately ¥0.5/kWh, or about $0.07 USD, versus the UK's roughly £0.25/kWh (around $0.32 USD) — meaning UK electricity costs are running at more than four times the Yiyang rate. A full-time, live-in housekeeper — a genuine luxury by UK standards — costs $417–625/month. Buying rather than renting, a modern apartment starts from roughly $40,000.

The Line-by-Line Comparison

To be direct about what this table is and isn't saying: it isn't saying Yiyang is London. It's a mid-sized Chinese city, not a global financial capital. What it is saying is that the specific, measurable financial pressure driving 4.5 million Britons to tell a pollster they're considering leaving — rent, energy, the general weight of essentials — has a real, priced, currently-available alternative that most people simply never see, because it's not Lisbon, Bali, or Chiang Mai, and nobody's writing "digital nomad" listicles about it.

Objections, Answered

"What about the NHS? Isn't UK healthcare free?"

NHS care is free at the point of use for eligible residents, which is a genuine and significant benefit not to dismiss. But it comes with well-documented waiting times for non-emergency care, and anyone who has paid for private UK healthcare to skip the queue already knows it isn't cheap (private hospital stays run £275–550/night; a private appendectomy runs £4,000–6,000). Healthcare is a real factor to weigh, not a reason to avoid the comparison — it's a reason to research specific coverage options, which our advisory team can walk through.

"Can British citizens actually visit and live in China easily?"

China currently offers a 30-day visa-free entry policy for UK citizens for tourism and business purposes, making an initial visit straightforward with no advance visa application. For longer stays, the pathways include work visas, student visas, and a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise) structure supporting a renewable residence permit. See our visa pathways guide.

"Isn't this a huge culture shock?"

Real, but manageable, and it's the same adjustment anyone moving abroad faces — Portugal, Spain, or Thailand included. Daily life in a city like Yiyang runs heavily through apps (WeChat Pay, Alipay, Meituan for food delivery) that require minimal spoken Chinese. Our relocation advisory includes settlement support: SIM card, bank account, apartment search, and neighborhood orientation.

"Can I actually buy property there as a British citizen?"

Yes, under the same rules that apply to other foreign nationals: after one year of legal residency, individuals can purchase one residential property for personal use. See our full property-buying guide for the complete process.

The Bottom Line

PwC didn't publish this survey to sell anyone on China. The 4.5 million figure is simply a measured fact about how a lot of British people currently feel about their own cost of living, and it's consistent with everything else in the 2026 data — the sharpest confidence decline in four years, 80% planning spending cuts, rent up another 5.5% year-on-year according to the ONS.

We're not arguing everyone should move to a mid-sized Chinese city. We're pointing out something narrower and more useful: if you are one of the 4.5 million people who have already, independently, arrived at "I'm thinking about leaving" — the usual next stops in that search (Portugal, Spain, Australia) have gotten expensive and competitive enough that they barely solve the original problem. A place that hasn't been discovered yet still can.

The people telling pollsters they want to leave are, by definition, already doing the arithmetic in their heads. This is what the arithmetic actually looks like, worked all the way through.