Soaring cost-of-living and a struggling NHS have sent tens of thousands of immigrants packing from the UK, according to reports. Alexandra Stamate, her husband and three children are among hordes of people who emigrated to Britain in the hopes of a better life but have now given up on such dreams and returned to their home countries.

Ms Stamate’s family are now living in rural Romania, where they reap the rewards of a booming economy, including wage growth of more than 700% in the last decade, low unemployment and cheap housing.

In contrast, average UK household energy bills rose by £1,254 this year, according to the comparison site Uswitch, alongside water costs by £123 and council tax by 5%. It’s little surprise, then, that in a reversal of the roughly four million Romanians who emigrated to the UK in the years after the country’s 1989 revolution, 37,000 left in the year to last June, while just 14,000 arrived.

Ms Stamate, who moved to Bristol in 2015, told the Daily Mail: “The cost-of-living kept rising, and raising children felt more and more demanding, financially and emotionally.

“Like many families, we also became more aware of issues such as safety and the overall pressure of urban life…Property prices and everyday costs in rural areas were [also] far beyond what we felt was sustainable long-term.”

She added she “didn’t want to borrow money from banks” and Romania offered affordable land, a better climate and a countryside life.

Romanians are the nationality leaving the UK in the largest number, ranking significantly above the 25,000 Polish citizens who returned home this year.

Motivations for fleeing the country also include concerns about discrimination following Brexit and negative experiences with an NHS burdened with record waiting lists, staff shortages and major financial pressures.

A Bucharest local called Stefania, who left the UK after 12 years in 2022, said a doctor had failed to diagnose a serious medical condition and instead prescribed her anxiety tablets.

“I love England,” she said.

However, she added she “nearly died because of the NHS” and opted for what she said is better care on Romania.

Brits are also leaving the UK, according to analysis of United Nations data by The Times, with Poland and Romania recording the highest spike in British arrivals over the past four years – 104,150 across central and eastern European countries.

Net migration to the UK dropped by two-thirds in the year to June, according to the Office for National Statistics, with the difference between arrivals and departures totalling 204,000, down from 649,000.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer told GB News: “Under the last government, we saw the Boriswave. He promised that net migration would come down, but it quadrupled to nearly one million. That was unprecedented. It’s now down to 200,000 or so, and that’s a step in the right direction.”