- Key motivations to travel include professional advancement, mental health and financial stability
- Nearly half of Brits are going abroad to offset cost-of-living crisis
- Friends, family, and laughs at the pub top the list of what Brits abroad miss most
London, 26 May 2026 – bunq, Europe’s second-largest neobank, has released its annual Global Living Report 2026. This year’s findings highlight the dramatic benefits of global living – whether you live abroad, travel for work or a digital nomad.
The results found that – overall – Brits who live and work abroad are happier (64%), healthier mentally (49%) and more financially secure (58%). While the majority of those surveyed are traveling for new life experiences like culture (51%) or better weather (49%), financial considerations and careers also increasingly play a role. 29% of people moved abroad for a specific career opportunity while over two thirds (68%) moved to offset the cost of living in the UK. Gen Z are most likely to travel for frugality (33%) while they’re least likely to make the move for a relationship (23%) compared to other generations (25% and 25% respectively).
With the majority moving to offset the UK’s high cost-of-living, 20% have also said that living abroad allows them to save more money and 35% said it is easier to support their families.
Brits are split on what they miss most from home, but after friends and family, dry humour (14%), a good trip to the pub (12%), and the NHS (7%) rank highest. A third (33%) of respondents report missing an important family event like birthdays, weddings, or funerals. This is felt more intensely among younger generations as 40% of Gen Xers report not missing out on any milestones compared to 27% of millennials and 25% of Gen Z.
While all respondents report traveling having a positive impact on relationships, Gen Z are most likely to put things ‘on hold’ in favour of travel and work abroad. 26% have said they’re delaying buying a house in order to live globally and 23% are delaying having children while 24% have decided against having these things at all.
With price surges globally, the research found Gen X least sure about the financial impact of travel (30%) compared to Gen Z and millennials (21%). Contrary to this however, budgeting remains a strain for 19% of Gen Z and 15% of millennials, compared to only 9% of Gen Xers.
The happiest generation? Gen Z at 70%, followed by 64% of millennials and 59% of Gen X. Relationships are a key contributor to this happiness with 54% of Gen Z, 45% of millennials and 37% of Gen X reporting a positive impact. Interestingly, the inverse is true for mental health, where Gen X report the best mental health at 56% followed by 47% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z.
Overall, travelling seems to have a more positive impact on men than women. This year’s data points to men being marginally happier compared to women (66% compared to 63% respectively), and seeing improvements to their mental health (50% compared to 47% respectively). 47% of men also reported improved relationships compared to 42% of women.
Interestingly, men tend to be more focused on career opportunities as a key driver for moving and traveling (31%) compared to women (26%). 39% say they’ve grown their professional networks and have been able to better support their families while also maintaining a better work life balance than in their home country (57%). Women tend to indulge more in hobbies and new skills (43%) and focus on growing their social networks (41%).
While both men and women say culture shock is the least challenging part of working and traveling (6%), women have the edge when it comes to acclimatising to new languages, with 39% of respondents saying it’s a leading challenge compared to 46% of men.
Of the survey findings, Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist at bunq says: “For Brits abroad, living a global experience is no longer just a pipedream. It’s a tangible reality that works in your favour. This year’s findings highlighted that people are deliberately choosing freedom, flexibility and wellbeing over more traditional lives in their home country.
“Whether you’re a digital nomad, expat or just a frequent flyer,, today’s global citizens expect their money to move as freely as they do.”
bunq, Europe’s second-largest neobank, has rebuilt banking from the ground up. As the world’s first GenAI-powered bank, bunq’s proprietary AI powers every part of the business, from helping users with their finances, to being baked into bunq’s own operations. By developing a product rooted in its users’ wants and needs, bunq makes life easy for location-independent people and businesses, starting from the way they manage money: how they spend, save, budget and invest.
Pioneering many things considered impossible, bunq was the first bank to get a greenfield European banking permit in over 35 years, raised the largest series A round ever secured by a European fintech (€193 million), and was the first EU neobank to achieve structural profitability. As part of its mission to build the first global neobank, bunq has also received its US broker-dealer license and applied for its US and Mexican banking license, with more global expansion to follow. Learn more: www.bunq.com
The survey was conducted by Pollfish on behalf of bunq in March 2026, with 7,100 respondents across 8 countries: France (1,000), Germany (1,000), Ireland (700), the Netherlands (700), Spain (1,000), the United Kingdom (1,000), Canada (700), and the United States (1,000). The objective was to understand attitudes toward global lifestyles and the impact of global living on people’s welfare, careers, and relationships.