Living in Crete | Brit Expats Save More

Are Brits in Greece and specifically Brits Living in Crete among Britain’s army of expats who have saved £150 billion between them? It could be if they are lumped in with those living in the oil rich Gulf States. In the Gulf, 10 per cent of expatriates hold a full quarter of all expat savings of Brits abroad - £36 billion worth. Twenty-eight per cent of Brits in the Middle East have been seconded there to work, and on average they have saved up almost £125,000 per household. Not surprisingly outside the Gulf, the richest expats can be found in the regional financial centre of Singapore, each with £101,000.


These facts come out of a survey published on November 7. The survey was conducted by the offshore savings bank, Alliance & Leicester International (ALIL) based in the Isle of Man which is now owned by Spanish Bank group, Santander. ALIL analysed the responses of 1070 expats. This is the latest ALIL global expat survey which was conducted over the Internet in September and October 2008.


Some 5.5 million* British citizens who live around the globe have have salted the equivalent to £54,621 for each household compared to £31,300 per household back home.


Where do British Expatriates Live?
Some 1.1 million Brits are living in Australia - the top destination for UK expats. Another 1.8m) are dispersed across Europe, with most choosing Spain and France. A million live in North America, mostly in the USA. Africa accounts for a further
114,000, Asia 388,000, Middle East 550,000, 200,000 in New Zealand and 275,000 in South and Central America.


Other curious facts about the British Abroad include:


- One in five (19%) of all expats use a UK offshore bank for their savings,

- Almost three fifths (58%) of expats use local banking services,

- Almost two fifths (39%) use UK mainland banking services,

- Almost half (47%) conduct most of their banking over the Internet,

- Some 31% of expat savings are in sterling,

- Some 29% of expat savings are in local currencies,

- Some 40% (the balance) of expat savings are in USD and Euros, with Euros slightly ahead.


Commenting on the survey results, Simon Ripton, Joint Managing Director of Alliance & Leicester International said: “Making the right choices on banking services is especially important for those living overseas. Using offshore UK banks can allow for efficient tax planning while internet access ensures it’s quick and easy to manage finances from anywhere in the world.”



Note* Source Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)


ALIL analysed the responses of 1070 expats. The latest ALIL global expat
survey was conducted over the Internet in September and October 2008.
The researchers identified where expats were located and how much their
savings were from their survey responses. They grossed up the averages using
the total UK expat population of 5.5million to calculate the total amount of
savings on a regional and global basis.

P.S. If Brits in Crete were lumped into Europe, those Living in Monaco would come out top of the expat bank savings rankings, with savings of £150,000 salted away.