The number of Britons moving abroad has risen as high-earners look for ways to protect their money from tax increases.

Chancellor Alistair Darling’s announcement that bankers’ bonuses over £25,000 would be hit by a 50 per cent tax rate has seen the nation’s wealthy leaving at a rate of ten a week, according to research into overseas removals from the Sunday Times newspaper.

By escaping the government’s windfall tax these soon to be expatriates could find that their pay goes further abroad than in the UK.

So far, Asia has been a popular choice, with high profile workers such as HSBC’s chief executive Michael Geoghegan recently making the move to Hong Kong.