Quotable Value has released May’s figures for the New Zealand’s housing market. The average sale price of a house in New Zealand has decreased slightly to $387,299 (£150,700) from April’s $388,465 (£151,154). Property values have increased 2.4% over the calander year. New Zealand’s average house prices are not directly comparable with the UK’s because, unlike the UK, the average home in New Zealand is a detached bungalow.

QV spokesperson Mark Dow said:

While most areas are still holding their value from a year ago, some areas are beginning to report small declines. Whether properties are holding their value or being sold beneath previous expectations is being influenced by how much pressure the owner feels to sell. There are increasing reports that where sellers aren’t under financial pressure or needing to relocate, they are choosing to take their properties off the market or rent them out rather than accept lower offer.

House Prices in New Zealand
Three Months Ending May 2008

* Assumed exchange rate is £1 = NZ$2.57

European cities dominated annual world-wide quality of living rankings in a survey released today. Zurich scored highest place for overall quality of living and Luxembourg ranked the highest city for personal safety.

European cities dominated the world-wide rankings of locations with the best quality of living, according to Mercer’s 2008 Quality of Living survey. The quality of living survey covered 215 cities and was conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments. Zurich retained its 2007 title as the highest ranked city, followed jointly by Vienna and Geneva. Vancouver was 4th followed by Auckland in 5th place.

The survey also identified those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries. Luxembourg was top, followed by Bern, Geneva, Helsinki and Zurich, all equally placed at number 2. Chicago, Houston and San Francisco were amongst the safest cities in the US.

North America
Canadian cities dominated the rankings in the Americas. Vancouver (4) had the best quality of living followed by Toronto (15), Ottawa (19) and Montreal (22). In the US, after Honolulu (28) came San Francisco (29), Boston (37) and Chicago (44). Washington, DC, ranked 44, above New York (49).

In terms of personal safety, Canadian cities again performed best with Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver all ranked jointly at 22. In the US, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Lexington, San Francisco and Winston-Salem all shared rank 53.

Mr Parakatil senior researcher at Mercer said, “Personal safety within Canadian cities ranks among the highest in the region. This is due to a relatively low crime rate and a stable political environment.”

Europe
Switzerland and Germany dominated the European cities with the best quality of living, each having three cities represented in the top 10. Bern, in Switzerland, ranked 9 followed behind Zurich and Geneva. Dusseldorf (6), Munich and Frankfurt (both at 7) represented Germany. Outside the top 10 were Copenhagen (11), Amsterdam (13), Brussels (14), Berlin (16) and Luxembourg (17). Dublin, ranked 25, was followed by Paris (32), Barcelona (42) and Madrid (43). Lisbon was number 44 and was followed by Rome, 55, up from 61 in 2007. Prague (71) was the highest-ranking eastern European city followed by Budapest (74), Vilnius (78), Ljubljana (82) and Warsaw (85).

The rankings of Bern, Geneva and Zurich, all at 2, confirmed Switzerland’s position as one of the safest countries in Europe. According to the index, Luxembourg was the European city with the highest level of personal safety. This was in stark contrast with Moscow, the European city scoring the lowest (196). In the UK, Glasgow (43) and Birmingham (53) ranked safer than London (69).

Mr Parakatil commented, “Europe dominates the list in terms of infrastructure, health and political stability. Large discrepancies continue to exist within this region. Living standards in Eastern European cities have been catching up with Western European cities.”

Asia Pacific
Auckland (5) was the city in Asia Pacific with the best quality of living, followed by Sydney (10) and Wellington (12). Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore (32) ranked two places higher than in 2007, slightly higher than Japanese cities such as Tokyo (35). Hong Kong and Beijing retained their 2007 rankings, respectively 70 and 116 in 2008. Bangalore (140) was India’s most highly ranked city followed closely by Mumbai (142). Both have seen a marked improvement in their rankings since 2007. For personal safety, Auckland (10) and Wellington (10) ranked highest in the Asia pacific region.

If you’ve ever wondered about petrol prices in other countries, here is a brief international comparison.

We’ll look at petrol prices in the most popular countries for British emigrants - Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Canada, the USA and Italy.

Petrol prices in all comparison countries were lower than British prices. The average price in the UK today is around 112 - 114 pence per litre.

Looking abroad, petrol was cheapest in some US cities (50 pence per litre) and most expensive in Italy (116 pence per litre).

Here are typical prices (all shown in pence per litre at current exchange rates).

Standard Unleaded Petrol Prices

Sites To Visit:

European Petrol Prices

Petrol Prices In Australia

Petrol Prices In New Zealand

Petrol Prices In Canada and The USA

Metropolitan house prices have continued to rise in the March quarter but the future is looking brighter for first-time buyers as the growth shows signs of easing. The median house price for metropolitan Adelaide is now $362,500 according to official March quarter data, which is a quarterly rise of 2.11 percent and a 19.4 percent jump from 12 months ago.

REISA President Robin Turner said the slower rate of quarterly growth was good news for people trying to enter the market. “The affordability issue has been in the spotlight in recent months and while the median house price has risen again, it was at a much slower rate which indicates relief for aspiring homebuyers,” Mr Turner said. “These figures reflect the anecdotal evidence we’ve been hearing from agents out in the field who are saying sale volume and prices have started to ease as a result of the two interest rate rises earlier this year.”

Mr Turner said despite this expected slow-down, investors were still well placed in the Adelaide market due to its affordability. “The positive thing about Adelaide is that for existing homeowners and investors, history shows that there is rarely any backwards movement so their assets are still in good shape,” he said. “Affordable areas are still going well and will sustain the property market over the next few months.

Adelaide Top Performing Suburbs Median House Prices
March Quarter 2008

assumed exchange rate $1.00 = £0.48

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of people employed in New Zealand dropped by 29,000 (1.3 percent) in the March 2008 quarter, Statistics New Zealand reported. Employment has returned to levels seen early in 2007, and follows a record high in the December 2007 quarter.

Full-time employment decreased by 1.7 percent in the March 2008 quarter. This was driven by a decline in female full-time employment of 22,000 following an increase in the December quarter of 31,000. Male full-time employment decreased by 0.6 percent. Despite a small increase in female part-time employment over the quarter, total part-time employment decreased by 1.1 percent. This was due to a decline in male part-time employment of 4,000.

The number of people in the labour force decreased by 24,000 (1.1 percent) to 2,222,000 in the March 2008 quarter, while the working-age population grew by 10,100 (0.3 percent). This resulted in a decrease in the labour force participation rate of 0.9 percentage points to 67.7 percent. Both the male and female labour force participation rates declined in the March 2008 quarter to 74.6 percent and 61.1 percent, respectively.

In the March 2008 quarter the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.6 percent. The female unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points to 3.9 percent, while the male unemployment rate remained flat at 3.4 percent.

The number of people unemployed increased by 4,000 (5.5 percent). The number of unemployed females increased by 3,000 to 40,000, while the number of unemployed males increased by 1,000 to 41,000 in the March 2008 quarter.

The unadjusted unemployment rates by ethnic group for the March 2008 quarter were: 8.6 percent for Māori, 8.2 percent for Pacific peoples, 6.0 percent for the ‘Other’ ethnic group and 3.0 percent for European.

The Adelaide rental vacancy rate has remained stable over the past month while the number of tenants in the market eased, the Real Estate Institute of South Australia (REISA) reports.

REISA President Robin Turner said metropolitan Adelaide recorded a vacancy rate of 1.8 percent in the month of March – down from 1.9 percent in February but up from 0.9 percent this time last year.

“Anecdotal evidence from property managers indicates that tenant demand for rental properties in Adelaide has levelled off in recent months as a result of higher rental prices,” Mr Turner said. “However, there are still a lot of high quality tenants in the market at the moment ready to snap up the right property when it’s listed.”

Mr Turner said the supply and demand in the local rental market had balanced out this year after Adelaide experienced extremely tight conditions in 2007.

“Properties that are in high supply – such as units and apartments in the city and Glenelg areas – have recorded higher vacancy rates in March and tend to be seasonal in demand,” he said. “These conditions offer a balance in the rental market for both investors and renters, but with the right price and location, any property will let.”

The REISA vacancy rate survey is broken down into six main areas. The statistics for March 2008 were:

• City – All city and North Adelaide only –4.03 percent
• West – Suburbs west of West Terrace, between Port Road and Anzac Highway– 1.90 percent
• South – Suburbs south of South Terrace, between Glen Osmond Road and Anzac Highway, including Glenelg suburbs – 2.14 percent
• East – Suburbs east of the city square, between Payneham and Glen Osmond Roads, excluding the Hills area – 1.64 percent
• North – Suburbs north of North Adelaide, between Port and Payneham Roads, turning into Lower North East Road – 1.15 percent
• Hills – Suburbs from Crafers to Nairne – 1.49 percent

Adelaide Top Performing Suburbs For Weekly Rents
March Quarter 2008

assumed exchange rate $1.00 = £0.48

British professionals could earn an average 40 percent more by relocating abroad, research shows. The average professional expatriate earns £67,000, compared to a UK average of £47,000,42.6 percent less, according to NatWest International.

Its “wealth ranking survey”, undertaken with the Centre of Future Studies think-tank, shows that the United Arab Emirates tops the charts, with professionals netting an average annual salary of £79,000. Even Portugal, at the lower end, comes in with a respectable average annual wage of £58,000.

However, when the cost of living is taken into account Spain (with an average expat salary of £65,000) and Italy (£76,000) jumped up the table.

David Isley, head of personal banking at NatWest International, said: “The wage packets of expats are very encouraging for people who are looking to move abroad. People who are willing to move abroad not only benefit from bigger earnings in countries such as Spain and Italy, but also have the advantage of a lower cost of living.”

Overall, 68 percent of those surveyed found that the cost of living abroad to be lower than in the UK, which lead to 90 percent considering themselves financially better off.

Almost 70 percent also said they felt healthier living abroad.

Isley said: “Expats who have moved abroad appear to be wealthier, healthier and happier and all these factors have contributed to a better quality of life. It seems as if expats have not only found their pot of gold abroad, but are able to enjoy themselves and feel healthier for having made the move.”

The global survey also revealed the countries with the highest proportion of Britons working in certain occupations.

Canada had the most engineers, medical personnel, academics and teachers. IT professionals seemed to flock to Sweden; economists and accountants to Singapore; scientists to New Zealand; financial services workers to the UAE; and marketing and sales professionals to Portugal.

The research looked at expats in the following ten countries: Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the UAE.

A total of 1,399 expats were surveyed. The report was also based on a range of data including figures from the Office for National Statistics, International Passenger Survey, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Values Survey.

Britain is experiencing the worst “brain drain” of any country as highly qualified professionals settle abroad, according to a study by the OECD. Record numbers of Britons are leaving - many of them doctors, teachers and engineers - in the biggest exodus from the UK for almost 50 years.

The telegraph.uk reported that there are now 3.247 million British-born people living abroad, of whom more than 1.1 million are highly skilled university graduates. No other country is losing so many qualified people. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate.

The figures, based on official records from more than 220 countries, will alarm Gordon Brown as tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money is spent on educating graduates. The cost of training a junior doctor, for example, is £250,000.

The most popular destinations are English-speaking countries such as Australia, America, Canada and New Zealand and holiday areas including France and Spain. Almost 60 per cent of those leaving take jobs, although hundreds of thousands of retired people live abroad.

The motivations for leaving Britain were not studied. However, high house prices and taxes and poor climate are frequently cited.

A spokesman for the Paris-based OECD said last night: “British people have lots of opportunities to move and work abroad so very highly-skilled people are travelling around. It is seen by many British people as part of their personal development to have some experience abroad.”

Britain’s exodus is far higher than any of the OECD’s other 29 members. Germany has lost only 860,000 highly-skilled workers, America 410,000 and France 370,000.

Danny Sriskandarajah, a migration expert at the IPPR think-tank, said: “There is a long-term trend of British people lured abroad by a slightly better lifestyle. They are actively targeted by countries such as Australia and New Zealand.”

The emigration was leading to a rapid change in British society as large numbers of highly-skilled immigrants moved to this country to replace those leaving, he said.

“Britain has been lucky - although it has lost substantial numbers of people, it has attracted more than a million skilled immigrants to replace them. If they stop coming then that would be a problem.”

Figures from the Office for National Statistics last year, suggested that 207,000 Britons - one every three minutes - left in 2006. The emigration rate is at its highest since just after the Second World War.

A British team has designed a hypersonic passenger aeroplane that could one day fly passengers between Europe and Australia in less than five hours. The A2 plane, designed by Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines, could carry 300 passengers at a top speed of almost 4,000 mph, five times the speed of sound.

The plane, which at 143 metres long would be about twice the size of the biggest current jets, could fly non-stop for up to 12,500 miles. It would be lighter than current intercontinental planes and designed to operate on liquid hydrogen.

The jet would produce only water vapour and nitrous oxide as exhaust. It’s high-speed would make windows impracticable so flat screen monitors instead would substitute for an actual outside view.

Fares for the four-hour and 40-miute flight to Australia would be comparable with current first-class tickets on standard flights, of around £3,500. The company said the aircraft, which is still at the concept stage, could be operating within 25 years.

Alan Bond, managing director of Reaction Engines, told The Guardian newspaper: “The A2 is designed to leave Brussels international airport, fly quietly and sub-sonically out into the north Atlantic at mach 0.9 before reaching mach 5 across the North Pole and heading over the Pacific to Australia.
The flight time from Brussels to Australia, allowing for air traffic control, would be four hours 40 minutes. It sounds incredible by today’s standards but I don’t see why future generations can’t make day trips to Australasia. Our work shows that it is possible technically; now it’s up to the world to decide if it wants it.”

The LAPCAT (Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies) project is being funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to encourage companies to push the boundaries of commercial air travel using technology more commonly associated with space travel.

The number of people who will retire abroad is set to rise to 3.3million by 2050, a survey has suggested. The strongest reason for leaving is to find a better quality of life, followed by the standard and cost of living in the UK. Nine in ten of expats surveyed said they had a better quality of life and six out of ten did not plan to return.

Canada was rated the best country to emigrate to, followed by New Zealand and Portugal.

The survey predicts by 2025, 1.8 million Britons could spend their later years abroad, which may increase to 3.3 million by 2050.

Over three quarters, 76%, of respondents said they feel homesick some or all of the time, missing family and friends, traditions and culture and the British sense of humour. One in five expats said their sense of being British has diminished, suggesting that expats begin to feel less British the longer they have been living out of the UK.

Canada scored first place with a score of 63.95 out of 80, with high rankings for housing, the natural environment and the availability of consumer goods.

Dave Isley, from NatWest international personal banking who commissioned the survey, said: “There are a number of different reasons why people relocate abroad, to be nearer to family and friends, to start a new job, or as the study demonstrates, to increase their quality of life. “This is only likely to increase in the future, with many more taking the decision to spend their twilight years sipping sangria in Spain, Chianti in Italy or eating maple syrup and pancakes in Canada.”

Seasonal depression is prompting Britons to consider packing their bags and moving abroad. January is widely regarded as the most depressing month of the year, due to issues such as poor weather and post-Christmas debt. A survey by Foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp found that 40 per cent of people were thinking of emigrating because they were feeling depressed or anxious because of financial concerns and the dreary weather conditions.

The sense of disillusionment seems to be particularly acute in the capital, with almost half of Londoners said to be contemplating life abroad. This compares with just one in three people in Scotland.

Commenting on the findings, Moneycorp’s Nick Bull said they provided a “real insight” into the British population’s “collective psyche” at this time of year. He remarked: “It’s interesting to see that people consider something as life changing as a move abroad as the answer to their woes, financial and otherwise.”

If you’ve ever wondered about petrol prices in other countries, here is a brief international comparison.

We’ll look at petrol prices in the most popular countries for British emigrants - Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Canada, the USA and Italy.

Petrol prices in all comparison countries were lower than British prices. The average price in the UK today is around 104 - 105 pence per litre.

Looking abroad, petrol was cheapest in some US cities (below 40 pence per litre) and most expensive in Italy (100 pence per litre).

Here are typical prices (all shown in pence per litre at current exchange rates).

Standard Unleaded Petrol Prices

Sites To Visit:

European Petrol Prices

Petrol Prices In Australia

Petrol Prices In New Zealand

Petrol Prices In Canada and The USA

Forbes.com has looked for affordable locations in America that offer a good quality of life. Minneapolis took the top spot on the list of Most Affordable Places To Live Well. Houses in Minneapolis are relatively affordable, residents enjoy a high quality of life and access to choice arts, leisure and entertainment offerings.

The Methodology
The Forbes rankings incorporate a variety of criteria. They looked at at housing affordability in the country’s 50 largest metros, and considered spending on goods such as energy, clothing and food. To determine quality of life, the Forbes index used 2006 Census figures that measured quality of schools, quality of health care, crime and poverty rates. Finally, Forbes used data from Sperling’s Best Places that identifies the country’s best arts and leisure destinations, measuring a wide range of entertainment options from music venues and museums to professional sports teams and miles of shoreline.

The top ten locations are listed below:

1. Minneapolis
   The “City of Lakes”. A large variety of companies donate huge sums of money to the city’s schools, cultural institutions and health services. This positively affects the quality of life and the arts and leisure choices. Housing and cost of living are both affordable, but aren’t dramatically below national averages.
2. Indianapolis
   Indianapolis has a higher percentage of homes available to the median-earning household than any other city. When it comes to arts and leisure activities, Indianapolis may not live up to standards set by New York or Los Angeles, but what is available has an affordable price tag: Indianapolis ranks as the 13th cheapest city to live in.
3. Cincinnati
   The Queen City is one of the most affordable in the country, in terms of cost of living and housing. Median-earning residents here can afford 76.5% of the homes on the market. Not that they need it (it’s the fifth cheapest city to live in), but housing affordability leaves Cincinnatians with plenty of cash on hand.
4. St. Louis
   What makes St. Louis a desirable housing market isn’t simply the 76% of homes that are available to the median buyer, but its relatively stability; The area isn’t as bogged down in risky loans and defaults as other Midwestern cities. The Gateway to the West has a strong ratio of parks and restaurants to citizens and is the 15th cheapest city in which to live.
5. Houston
   One of the country’s fastest-growing cities, Houston has added nearly 1 million new people since 2000. Housing affordability and a strong job market seem enough to lure people from all over the country. The city has invested millions over the last five years in expanding infrastructure by adding trains, bolstering the downtown business district and funding the arts, which has helped the city to centralise. It also helps that on an everyday cost basis, among the cities studied, Houston is the cheapest place to live.
6. Milwaukee
   Milwaukee has a strong tradition of charitable giving and civic involvement; both have helped create cultural institutions and fund the arts. In Sperling’s Best Places rank, the city is 21st for its combination of museums, sports outlets, libraries, universities and parks. Cost of living sits at about the national average.
7. Dallas
   Like Houston, Dallas is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, with domestic migrants leading the way. The city itself is a bit more centralised than Houston, has better air quality and better access to public transportation via its DART train. It trails Houston slightly when it comes to cultural institutions like museums, libraries, parks, sports, theatres and universities. Cost of living is slightly higher in Dallas, which was the main reason it ranked behind Houston.
8. Pittsburgh
   There’s a lot more to Pittsburgh than its post-industrial reputation and the hometown Steelers football team. Institutions like the Carnegie Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory (a contemporary art museum) enrich the city’s art scene. The area’s cost of living is actually a touch above the national average but housing is the 11th most affordable in the country.
9. Columbus, Ohio
   Home to Ohio State, the biggest university in the country, Columbus offers residents access to the top-notch facilities that come with such a huge institution. The city scores well in health care, based on access to the Ohio State University Medical Centre, especially the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, which are top national centres. Cost of living is just below the national average, and 76.4% of homes sold last quarter were available to the median-income earner, making it the seventh most affordable real estate market of the 50 measured.
10. Atlanta
    Atlanta is a case study in how land use and development can be managed to keep housing prices affordable. More houses have sold in Atlanta over the last five years than just about anywhere else in the country, and it’s the nation’s fastest growing city of more than 5 million people. Quality-of-life rankings and arts and leisure marks are toward the middle, but the city ranks 11th best when it comes to cost of living.

Millions of Britons will be spending Christmas and New Year soaking up the sun or hurtling down ski slopes, new research has indicated. Figures from the Association of British Travel Insurers (ABTA) have shown that 3.5 million will be heading for the airport or Channel Tunnel over the period between December 21st and January 2nd.

The most popular warm weather destinations are the Canary Islands, Goa and Egypt, while ABTA has said sales are going well for Alpine ski destinations, where good early season snowfall is in contrast to last year’s very mild conditions.

Online travel agents Ebookers.com are also seeing a surge in custom from those wanting to swap the British winter for foreign climes.

In addition to 15 per cent of the 8,000 respondents to the firm’s survey stated that they always go away at Christmas, while 23 per cent of those spending this time overseas said they were doing so for the first time.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest 591,000 people migrated to the UK in 2006 while some 400,000 people moved overseas. The figures ONS figures show that because so many people emigrated the rate of population growth in the UK has been the lowest for three years.

Just over half of those leaving were British according to the report. The figures show that the pattern of long-term massive movements of people in and out of the UK appear to be continuing.

On emigration, the ONS said 41,000 more people had left the UK in 2006 than in the previous year. Of those, 185,000 were British. Some 15,000 of those leaving the UK after living here for at least one year were people from the eight Eastern European nations to have joined the EU in 2004.

However, immigration flows also continued to break records. Some 591,000 people from around the world came to live in the UK for at least a year in 2006 - up from 563,000 in 2005.

Just over 80,000 of these were people were British citizens who had been living abroad. Of the remaining, 167,000 were from inside the European Union, and 201,000 from Commonwealth nations.

The ONS figures suggest that overall 191,000 more people came to live in the UK than left in 2006 - down from 204,000 in 2005 and 244,000 in 2004.

The most popular destinations for the British citizens who were leaving were Australia and New Zealand, Spain, France and the US.

The world’s biggest passenger plane loomed large over Sydney yesterday as the Airbus A380 made its first commercial flight. Carrying more than 470 passengers and crew, the plane air traffic controllers call “the big fella” touched down in Sydney from Singapore on 25th October at 5.24pm according to a report from The Melbourne Age.

Amid much fanfare, 471 people representing 35 nationalities became part of aviation history when they boarded Singapore Airlines flight SQ380 at Changi Airport.

Hailed as a revolution in air travel, the double-decker A380 ends the nearly 37-year reign of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet as the most spacious passenger plane.

It is as tall as a seven-storey building, measures 73 metres in length and has enough room on each of its wings to park 72 medium-sized cars.

It is capable of carrying 853 passengers in an all-economy configuration, compared with the 747’s 500.

Airbus claims its jet is the most fuel efficient and quietest passenger aircraft in the world.

Top accommodation in the jet are the suites, enclosed by sliding doors and fitted with a 58-centimetre flat-screen television and laptop connections.

Suite passengers on the inaugural flight were offered Dom Perignon Rose 1996, caviar and a menu including duck breast and fish noodles.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) have released the first ever British Behaviour Abroad report. The report, which releases incident figures for the first time, highlights the key problems that Britons experience in the most popular destinations. According to the most accurate figures available, the period April 04–March 05 saw 1,663 Britons arrested in Spain, 1,370 lose their passports in the USA and 841 hospitalised in Greece.

The FCO believes many of these problems could be prevented and by releasing these figures, it hopes to encourage travellers to be more prepared for their trip and more aware of their environment whilst abroad.

Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister, Lord Triesman, said: ‘Falling sick, being a victim of crime or dealing with a misfortune affecting your self or your family can be traumatic enough under any circumstances. When they happen abroad they can be even more difficult, complicated and expensive to resolve. As this report shows although some of the incidents people face are unavoidable, many can be prevented with a little planning and careful preparation’.

Passports

Spain has the highest number of reported lost or stolen passports per year (4,774 in this period).
Each emergency or temporary passport application without photocopied details and a police report will take significantly longer to process.

• 62% of those surveyed had never taken a photocopy of their passport before going on holiday
• 61% have never taken the contact details for their nearest Embassy with them when they travel

FCO advice to prevent the loss of your passport abroad:

• Before you travel, make two photocopies of the page with your details on. Leave one with friends or family at home and take one with you when you travel
• Take the number of the British Embassy that will be nearest to you (find out which it is at British Embassies, High Commissions or Consulates or 0845 8502829
• Once abroad, keep your passport in a safe place (e.g. hotel safe). If you need to carry ID when you’re out and about, use the photocopy
• If you lose your passport or it is stolen, report the loss immediately to the nearest local police station and obtain a police report before contacting the nearest Embassy. Have your photocopy handy

Arrests

• Spain had the highest number of arrests in this period with 1,663, followed by the USA with 1,460
• Almost one third (32%) of Brits admit to never checking out the laws and customs of their destination before they travel
  41% admit to drinking ‘much more’ on holiday than they would at home

FCO advice to prevent unwittingly getting into problems with the law abroad:

• Before you travel, check out the local laws and customs of your destination – what might be perfectly appropriate behaviour or dress in one country might be completely different in another. Get a good guidebook or check out Travel advice by country that contains the latest travel information by country
• Many arrests are due to behaviour caused by excessive drinking. Know your limit and try not to drink more than you usually would at home
• Avoid areas where you might be unwittingly caught up in trouble e.g. rallies, marches or protests

Drugs

• The USA had the highest number of Britons arrested for drugs offences (259 in this period), followed by Spain (194) and Thailand (111)
• 63% didn’t know that some medication in the UK e.g. alcohol based prescription drugs and painkillers such as Codeine are illegal in some countries. In Japan for instance, the Vicks inhaler and Sudafed are illegal

FCO advice to prevent getting arrested on drugs offences:

• Know the drugs laws of your destination; they are more severe in some countries than others
• Some medicines that are perfectly legal in the UK are illegal in other countries - check out Travel advice by country and always carry your prescription with you
• Don’t be tempted to get involved with drugs – either taking them or carrying them for other people

Hospitalisations

In this period, Spain had the highest number of hospitalisations, with 1,137 UK citizens being admitted to hospital, followed by Greece with 841 and Thailand with 200. Failing to take travel insurance can cost a lot more than you think. If you suffer a broken leg in Europe it can cost you up to £7000, while an air ambulance from the USA can cost up to £35,000. Even a simple bout of gastro-enteritis in the Mediterranean will set you back £600.

35% of us admit to not always taking out full travel insurance when we go abroad and more than one in ten of us admit to worrying less about our personal safety while on holiday.

FCO advice to prevent yourself becoming ill or injured whilst on holiday:

• Find out about vaccinations or medication for the country or region you are going to well enough in advance for any preventative medication to take effect
• Always stick to local health and safety guidelines, such as sticking within your level of experience on ski slopes and not diving into water of unknown depth
• Always take out full travel insurance and ensure it covers you for everything you intend to do – otherwise you risk hefty medical bills if you become ill or injured
• If you’re going to be driving, familiarise yourself with the rules of the road, the condition of the roads and whether the general style of driving is different to the UK – and if you’re hiring a car always do so from a reputable company

Deaths

Spain experienced the highest number of British deaths in this period (including British residents) with 1,243, followed by France with 294 and Thailand with 274. Despite the headlines, most deaths abroad are due to natural causes.

FCO advice around death abroad:

• Ensure all members of your party have declared all medical conditions to their travel insurer – if an uninsured person dies whilst abroad any treatment they have received and their repatriation to the UK will not be covered
• All deaths must be registered in the country in which the death occurs. If a person in your party dies, whatever the circumstances, report the incident to the local authorities immediately
• There is no obligation to contact the British Consul / Embassy but they can offer support and practical advice at this distressing time

House prices in the UK have risen more rapidly than every country in the eurozone except Spain over the past five years, according to new research by Halifax. Since 2001, house prices in the UK have risen 90 percent, compared with a 40 percent increase for the eurozone as a whole over the same period. Spain is the only country with higher house price growth than the UK in the past five years, with an increase of 100 percent.

In the past year, Belgium experienced the largest rise in house prices of 18 percent, followed by France at 15 percent and Spain at 14 percent. The UK had the fourth-largest increase of 13 percent.

Of the 12 eurozone members included in this analysis, Germany is the only country to have experienced a fall in house prices, with a fall of 5 percent over the past five years.

Despite rising faster than the UK over the past five years, house prices in Spain are lower. The average price in Spain stood at £150,200 at the end of 2006, compared with an average of £187,100 in the UK. The average house price in Ireland (£209,300) and the Netherlands (£190,900) is higher than in the UK

The owner-occupation rate in the UK is currently around 70 percent. Spain has a significantly higher owner-occupation rate of 82 percent, whereas the Netherlands has a lower owner-occupation rate of 55 percent. In Germany, the rate is even lower at 45 percent.

Outside the eurozone, house price growth in the UK has outperformed Australia, Canada and the United States over the past one, two and five years. The US is the only one of these countries to have recorded a fall in house prices, with a 1.3 percent decline in the past year.

Along with faster growth, the UK also has a higher average house price than Australia, Canada and the US.

Record numbers of people are migrating from the UK, according to a report from The Office for National Statistics (ONS). Long-term migration from the UK reached 385,000 in the year to July 2006, the highest figure since 1991. Nearly 200,000 of the migrants were British citizens.

The largest numbers (71,000) are going to Australia, where there is a skills shortage. Many migrants are in their 30s, who have already spent time travelling, or in their early 40s, who want a better life for their families.

Within the UK an exodus of Londoners from the city - at a rate of 20,000 a month - has been blamed on rising house prices in the capital.

Top Ten Emigration Countries For UK Citizens
mid 2005 to mid 2006

European business travellers and holidaymakers will still be hit with high roaming charges this summer despite a new EU price cap, which came into force last Sunday.

The problem arises because companies have until the end of August to start charging new tariffs.

Under the rules, operators cannot charge EU subscribers making cross-border calls within the 27-nation bloc more than 49 euro cents (66 US cents) a minute in the first year of application while receiving a call could cost no more than 24 cents.

The ceiling for roaming services, which excludes value added tax, would then drop again in the second year, falling to 46 and 22 cents and then 43 and 19 cents in the third year.

“At last Europeans can breath a sigh of relief as the EU Roaming Regulation finally becomes binding law across all Member States,” said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

The price cap was introduced in a bid to cut exorbitant roaming charges by up to 70pc, after EU officials became frustrated with mobile phone operators’ failure to do so voluntarily.

Mobile companies have to offer customers a new roaming Eurotariff by the end of July and if accepted, the company is obliged have to activate it within one month.

To end the system where people don’t know how much they are paying until hit with a massive bill when they get home, customers will also receive a free text when they arrive in a new EU country informing them of the price they can expect to pay for using their phone.

The new law does not affect charges for sending or receiving text and picture messages which can be very high and the EU Commission said that they hoped that operators would lower these voluntarily.

Moscow remains the most expensive city in the world for expatriate staff, according to a survey by British human resources firm Mercer HR.

The findings use the United States’ most expensive city, New York, as a benchmark and compare the cost in 143 cities of more than 200 items, like housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

European cities featured prominently in the top 10: London leapt three places from fifth to second. Copenhagen was the sixth most expensive, Geneva seventh, Zurich ninth and Oslo 10th. Others more expensive than New York were Milan; Saint Petersburg and Paris

In turn, US cities and those in countries whose currency is pegged to the dollar, fell down the list.

United States
New York remained the most expensive city in North America in position 15. Only New York and Los Angeles (42) rank in the top 50 cities.

Canada
Toronto was the most expensive city in Canada in position 82. Calgary and Vancouver tumbled down the rankings, sliding from 71st place to 92nd and 56th to 89th respectively. Ottawa remained the cheapest Canadian city in 109th position. Canadian cities have traditionally rated favourably in the world-wide ranking. The new scores reflect a low rate of inflation and stable housing prices. In addition, while it has appreciated slightly against the US Dollar, the Canadian Dollar has depreciated nearly 13% against the Euro since last year’s survey.

Australasia
Wellington is the least costly city in this region in 111th place. Auckland climbs one place to rank 99th. Expatriates in Australia continue to face higher living costs than their counterparts in New Zealand. Sydney remained the most expensive city in Australia at position 21. Melbourne occupied position 60, up 14 places from last year. Adelaide was in 96th place.

Cost of Living Survey
Worldwide Ranking 2007

More than three million British pensioners will have left the UK and be living abroad by the year 2050. The number of expatriate pensioners is expected to soar to one in five in a phenomenon researchers have named “silver flight”.

In 1981, just a quarter of a million British pensioners lived overseas. Numbers have now swollen to more than one million. Sunshine is the biggest lure, with a third of respondants giving it as their reason for leaving. A new notion of retirement as a beginning in life, rather than an end was also given as a reason for moving.

Brits Abroad, published by the Institute for Public Policy Research, found that Australia is the most popular country among expatriate pensioners, with 245,000 – nearly one in four – living there. Other popular destinations are North America, with 190,000 expatriates of pension age; Ireland, with 105,000; and Spain, with 75,000.

Danny Sriskandarajah, IPPR Director, said, “more people are moving from country to country: to study, to work and increasingly to enjoy their retirement. This ’silver flight’ is the result of more Brits being increasingly willing and able to spend their retirement in Adelaide than Accrington.

“But it’s not fun in the sun for every British pensioner abroad. Our research shows that some find it difficult to adjust to life overseas and struggle to access healthcare or find themselves lonely without local language skills. Not every Brit enjoys their retirement in Benidorm more than they would have if they’d stayed in Bournemouth.”

Norway and New Zealand topped the first Global Peace Index – the first to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness. The United Kingdom ranked 49th.

Scoring
121 countries were assessed for ‘peacefulness’ based on 24 indicators, including ease of access to “weapons of minor destruction” (guns, small explosives), military expenditure, local corruption, and the level of respect for human rights.

New Zealand (2nd)
New Zealand’s stable political scene, domestic safety and security, good relations with neighbouring countries, and its lack of internal and external conflicts contributed to its high ranking.

Canada (8th)
Canada was the leading Western Hemisphere nation on the list, coming in eighth.

Australia (25th)
Australia’s internal indicators of peace were comparable to New Zealand’s but it was Australia’s military role in the Iraq which was almost wholly responsible for Australia’s much lower ranking on the index.

America (96th)

America’s ranking was brought down by its current external conflicts, its high jail population and murder rate, and its disproportionately high military expenditure.

The main findings of the Global Peace Index were:

• Peacefulness is linked to factors such as income, schooling and the level of regional integration
• Peaceful countries often shared high levels of transparency of government and low corruption
• Small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs are most likely to get a higher ranking

The Index is the brainchild of Australian IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea.

Countries Most at Peace

500 people a day are leaving the UK to live or work abroad according to the Office of National Statistics. The International Migration report for 2005 showed that 380,000 people emigrated from the UK for a year or more. Australia was the most popular destination for British emigrants followed by Spain and France. Of those who emigrated over half were British citizens.

In 2005, an estimated 565,000 migrants arrived to live in the UK for at least a year, equivalent to 1,500 arriving daily.

Net migration, the difference between immigration and emigration, was 185,000 for 2005. This was equivalent to adding just over 500 people a day to the UK population.

British citizens accounted for 53 per cent of migrants leaving, but only accounted for 16 percent of migrants entering the UK. There has been a 25 per cent rise in the number of British citizens emigrating from the UK since 2001, with 198,000 British citizens leaving the UK in 2005 compared with 159,000 in 2001.

Where immigrants to the UK for 2005 came from

1. India 92,000
2. Australia 78,000
3. Poland 69,000
4. South Africa 63,000
5. US 50,000
6. China 49,000
7. Pakistan 46,000
8. Germany 43,000
9. France 28,000
10. New Zealand 27,000
11. Spain 27,000
12. Philippines 20,000
13. Nigeria 19,000
14. Japan 17,000
15. Bangladesh 17,000

Where British citizens choose to emigrate to in 2005

1. Australia 71,000
2. Spain 58,000
3. France 42,000
4. New Zealand 30,000
5. US 25,000
6. Canada 17,000
7. Netherlands 8,000
8. UAE 7,000
9. Germany 6,000
10. South Africa 6,000

Millions of Britons claiming a state pension and living abroad are wasting over £300m on bank charges and fluctuating exchange rates, foreign exchange broker HiFX claimed.

The number of pensioners living abroad and claiming a state pension from the UK government has grown from 770,000 in September 1997 to an estimated 1.04m in January 2007.

Mark Bodega, marketing direct at HiFX, says that the average pensioner living abroad was charged anything between £10 and £30 a month to have their state pension paid into their bank account. He adds that, on top of this, many foreign banks also imposed receiving charges of 0.5pc of the total value of the monthly pension.

“This means, in a typical year, pensioners living abroad are paying more than £300 in bank charges and fees just to be able to spend their government pension abroad,” he says.

Expatriates with a private or company pension in the UK will also pay the same level of charges for each payment received, while all pension payments are subject to fluctuating exchange rates.

One alternative is to consider looking into an exchange rate via a regular payment service.

The plan, which does not charge for transferring payments abroad, fixes exchange rates for between six and 24 months in advance. Sterling is currently strong, said HiFX, so picking a good exchange rate now could mean that you benefit for the longer term by locking in.

Of course, the risk is that you lock in at lower exchange rates than those which become available in the open market during the period covered. Against that, fixed rates can give peace of mind.

The foreign country with the most UK pensioners was Australia where 241,050 retirees live. The next most popular was Canada with 153,820 pensioners claiming the state pension, followed by New Zealand with 46,680

Of course, there is nothing you can do to change the amount of pension you get if you live in one of the Commonwealth countries where pension freezing is an issue, but at the very least you can reduce the amount you are throwing away in charges.