City worker casts shadows in Leadenhall Market in the financial district of the City of London January 21, 2010. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Almost three-quarters of Britons have considered emigrating this year, with Australia as the most popular destination, according to a new survey.

The survey carried out by foreign exchange broker Currency UK found that 31 percent of respondents cited the poor state of the British economy as the reason for wanting to leave, while 23 percent blamed the lack of job prospects and 19 percent said they are worried about the outcome of last week’s election.

“Our survey highlights that many Brits are concerned by the prospect of a hung Parliament and that the next four years will be dominated by huge tax rises, cuts in public service and inflation,” Currency UK senior account manager Adrian Jacob said.

The numbers have dramatically risen compared to Currency UK’s last survey on emigration in 2005, when only 25 percent of respondents said they had considered leaving Britain.

About one in 10 of the 1,029 people surveyed said that a change in the pace of life was the main reason they wanted to emigrate.

The survey also found that Canada was the next most popular destination after Australia, followed by the United States, New Zealand, Spain, France and Thailand.