NZ fourth most popular refuge for restless Brits

New Zealand is the fourth most popular choice for Britons wanting to settle abroad.

Australia, Spain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States are the top five destinations for Britons making long-term moves, says a new survey.

The poll of 1000 people by the BBC and ICM Research of London showed 13 per cent of Britons hoping to emigrate in the "near future", almost twice the number in 2003.

Young people were most likely to want to leave, with a quarter hoping to live abroad.

The Institute of Public Policy Research has been analysing why Britons move overseas.

The main reasons are desire for a better quality of life, better weather and "a belief important policy implications have not received enough attention", according to the think-tank's associate director, Danny Sris-kandarajah.

"We need to understand more about what will happen as more young people head off on overseas adventures, more skilled people are lured away and more pensioners retire to all corners of the map."

He added: "The challenge for British policymakers will be to harness the economic and political potential of one of the largest diasporas in the world."

NZ Immigration Minister David Cunliffe has said the Government is keen to bring in people to fill the demand for skilled labour.

- NZPA