This can't be good: twice as many expatriate families are leaving China as are arriving, according to a survey by moving firm UniGroup Relocation.

The US was the top destination of relocations from China, followed by "Germany, Singapore, and France," a Wall Street Journal write-up of the survey said, although it did not indicate whether these moves were returning to the United States or initial moves from China. The data was not specific to cities such as Beijing.

"According to the company’s customer data, twice as many people moved out of China than into the country in 2014," the article continues. Oh dear.

Relocations to China from the US were down 22 percent in 2014 over the previous year, the report said.

Reasons cited for the departures include rising costs of living, education, and operation China, improving economic conditions in the US and Europe, and of course, pollution.

"The moves do not represent a mass exodus out of developed Asia, however. Twice as many people moved to Japan as left last year, and movements in and out of Singapore and Malaysia stayed the same compared to the year before," WSJ reported.

Sigh.

Photo: Wikimedia