Report reveals 35% of new residents leave the Island within five years

The report states there are relatively high levels of immigration into the Isle of Man

Thirty-five per cent of new residents leave the Island within five years of their arrival.

That’s from the latest population report published by the Cabinet Office.

It shows that overall, the population of the Isle of Man grew by around 461 people, to 84,530, in the period between the census in 2021 and the end of the first quarter of 2023. 

It states that 'if accurate, this represents a return to population levels last seen in 2011'.

Were net migration to continue at a pace similar to that in 2022, the population of the Isle of Man would be expected to reach approximately 92,000 by 2035 or 2036.

The report also reveals there are relatively high levels of immigration into the Isle of Man.

This is, however, tempered by high numbers of deaths on the Island, resulting from a relatively aged resident population, and a substantial degree of outward migration. Combined with a low birth rate, this results in a modest increase in population numbers.

New residents to the Island are on average younger than both current residents and those who leave the Island.

The average age of residents who left the Island between the last Census and the end of March 2023 was 42 years, and the average ages for both men and women leaving the Island were the same.

The age distribution of those leaving is broadly similar for both sexes, though some important differences are:

• 35.1% of women who left the Island were aged between 20 and 29, compared with 29.5% of men in the same age group.
• This difference is reversed for age groups between the ages of 30 and 54. This age group consisted of 42.7% of all men leaving the Island but only 35.2% of women.

A noteworthy characteristic of new residents is that around 35% leave the Island within five years of their arrival. The report states that it is possible that the reason behind this is largely or almost entirely due to opportunities for career advancement being much more widely available in the United Kingdom.

If so, it says, this would make the task of increasing the number of new residents who settle permanently a considerable challenge.

The report can be found in full HERE.