USA was the most popular destination for Brits looking for a new life abroad last year, according to Royal Mail’s international Redirection data.

The country topped the list after Royal Mail analysed more than 20,000 international Redirection applications from the last 12 months. Nearly a fifth (17%) of all the redirected mail travelled 4,242 miles to the US, with nearly a sixth travelling 629 miles to France (14%).

According to the latest Office of National Statistics figures, more than 323,000 people left the UK last year to set up home abroad. This is the second consecutive year that the US, France and Australia have taken the top three spots. Even though the locations remain the most popular, the number of applications actually fell last year – the USA by 0.2%, France by 2.3% and Australia by 4.4%. Senegal (0.03%), Andorra (0.02%) and Corsica (0.01%) made their first appearance this year.