Working Abroad: Business Travel Statistics 2019

According to our survey, 40% of people felt happier abroad than at home. This huge statistic suggests that exploring new locations and giving ourselves a change from the norm improves our mood and gives us a boost. By contrast, 27% of respondents preferred the familiar surroundings of home.

4% of people within the sample group said they’d never travelled out of the country in their lives. The reasons given by this group were that travel is too expensive (a response provided by 15% of this demographic), they had home life commitments that didn’t allow for travel (another 15% gave this response) or that it had simply never interested them (16% responded with this answer). 1 in every 20 respondents told us that a fear of travelling puts them off heading abroad.

Here are the full set of reasons given for deciding against travelling abroad:

Only 28% of the people we surveyed said that they ever traveled abroad for work. Around 3.6% more men did so than women.

In terms of age range, the number of individuals travelling to other countries for business purposes peaked within the 25 - 34 bracket at about 40%, then steadily declined. Of those aged 18 - 24, around 32% travelled abroad for work. In the 35 - 44 demographic, 31% did so. Of 45 - 54 years olds, just over 21% worked overseas per year, and only 16% of over 55’s did so.

1 in every 10 of the respondents we spoke to said that their work-life commitments would never allow for them to head overseas for business purposes. Overall, 72% of people had never travelled abroad for work - however, a surprising 13% admitted that they would turn down a £300 pay rise if it meant they would be able to do so.

Among the people who had been granted the option to work abroad, 2 in 5 responded that what they enjoyed the most about it was the opportunity to visit somewhere completely new. 28% particularly liked that they were able to meet new people as part of their trip, while 34% favoured the way it shook up routine a little, saying that their favourite aspect was the element of interest it offered. 29% appreciated the fact that it allowed free time for exploring their new environment.

According to our survey, the UK region that sees the highest number of its residents travelling abroad for work is Northern Ireland, with over 42% of its natives per year heading to other countries for business purposes. London follows closely behind with 41.9%. Over 33% of West Midlanders went abroad for work, while 28.6% of those from East Anglia did so. Following them was the North West at over 26%, the South East at 24.7% and the East Midlands at 24.2%. After this came the North East at just under 23%, then Scotland at 21%, Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales approximately tied at 18%, and finally, the South West at 12.5%.

The increase in popularity of remote working options may yet provide people with greater opportunity to head to an overseas destination as part of their job, as being physically present in the office is becoming less and less of a necessity for some roles.

We’re yet to find out whether the ever-increasing level of global connectivity enjoyed by businesses around the world will lead to more workers heading abroad, or whether the ease with which we are now able to communicate with overseas partners and contractors will actually reduce the need for this.