EU referendum: Three quarters of British ex-pats back staying in EU

Britons living in other EU countries overwhelmingly back the UK remaining in the union, according to a new survey.

It found 72 per cent of expats on the Continent eligible and planning to vote on June 23 intend to back In.

Ninteeen per cent are Outers, with just under nine per cent still to make up their minds.

The Brexit study, for expats’ network InterNations, was based on more than 1,800 responses from Britons abroad in the EU, whose numbers are estimated at around 1.3 million.

Levels of support for Remain and Leave varied between countries, though for some of them the samples were small and they were not weighted.

In France, Germany and Portugal, Stay was on just over 77 per cent, below Austria on 85 per cent.

In Sweden, the figure was 59 per cent, 60 per cent in Cyprus, 66 per cent in Italy, 73 per cent in Spain and 74 per cent in Belgium.

Across the EU, eight in ten of the expats said quitting the union could potentially change their personal situation.

Nearly sixty per cent of those eligible to vote were planning to do so.

A handful, though, did not even realise the EU referendum was taking place.

Almost three-quarters of the expats feel well informed about the poll, with 27 per cent saying they did not.

Britons living abroad must have been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years and be eligible to vote in the General Election to be able to vote in the referendum.

Hundreds of thousands of expats in the EU are believed not to meet these criteria.

Seventy per cent of respondents who are not voting are affected by this ruling.