Escape to the country? - How Covid changed London’s population - Box 1: Data used in this report

The Greater South East remained the most popular destination – before, during, and after the pandemic, between 58 and 59 per cent of people moving out of London moved to locations in the neighbouring South East and East. [...] Escape from the inner city Data on the five years before the pandemic shows that different parts of London played different roles in the exporting and absorbing of people to and from elsewhere in England and Wales. [...] At the same time, there was a 45 per cent increase in the number of 56-65-year-olds moving from Outer to Inner and a 29 per cent increase in people moving in the opposite direction. [...] London has for many years lost population to the rest of England and Wales, with the difference between births and deaths and international migration driving the growth of the Capital’s population. [...] The reversal of pandemic changes across London in the most recent internal migration data, and the average private rent data since, suggests that the appeal of quitting London diminished as it reopened, pandemic restrictions eased, and professionals were required to spend at least part of the week in the office.