The number of British citizens leaving for European Union countries is at a 10-year high, with the rate of departure accelerating since the referendum, new research has revealed.

According to initial findings of a report on the migration of UK citizens, 84,000 people are expected to leave Britain for another EU nation this year, compared with 59,000 in 2008. It found that about 11,500 people moved from the UK to Germany in 2018, compared with more than 8,500 in 2008.

The analysis – carried out by the Oxford in Berlin group and the WZB, the Berlin Social Science Centre – also found that the number of British people signing up for German citizenship had risen significantly. While 622 Britons received German citizenship in 2015, 7,493 were naturalised in 2017, a figure that is expected to rise this year. For the EU as a whole, naturalisations rose from 2,106 in 2015 to 14,678 in 2017.

Daniel Tetlow, co-author of the study, which also looked at the changing nature of being British abroad, said that behind the figures lay the emergence of “a new social phenomenon in British identity”. “One of the things I find most striking is this new British-European identity that many refer to. And no, it’s not just the privileged metro middle classes; I’ve met proud British mechanics, ex-British forces, British ambulance drivers, British teachers and unemployed Brits, and because of Brexit almost all of them feel a new motivation in being active Europeans, and no less British as a result,” he said.

“Yes, that’s partly self-preservation in these uncertain times, but I also see emerging a new social phenomenon in British identity and migration because people are now so convinced of the value of being British and European.”

The analysis used OECD figures and national government statistics. Qualitative research surveys were carried out over four months with British citizens in Germany who left the UK between 2008-2019. Of those interviewed, researchers said 30% had described Brexit as having had a direct impact on their mental health. Half said that they would consider giving up their British nationality if necessary to be able to keep their EU nationality. Securing citizenship allows Britons to retain the advantages of EU membership.