More than 80 per cent of Britons have either considered or would give serious thought to emigrating for work as a result of the ongoing economic downturn.

That is according to new research carried out by Immigration New Zealand, which found that growing numbers of UK professionals are looking into jobs on the other side of the world.

Of those prospective emigrants polled, 48 per cent stated a belief that New Zealand offers a better standard of living, including an improved work-life balance to the UK, while 17 per cent said that they view the country as being a safer place to bring up children.

Andrew Lockhart, regional manager for Immigration New Zealand, commented: "Permanent British migration to New Zealand is currently up 20 per cent on previous years and we are still looking for skilled migrants during the economic downturn.

"We therefore hope that these new survey results will encourage even more skilled Brits to join us in New Zealand."

Just last month, the country's capital, Auckland, topped Mercer's latest Quality of Life poll, closely followed by Vancouver and Geneva.