Nearly half the Island’s residents have thought about leaving Bermuda due to the economic climate.

Adults aged 18 to 34 are the likeliest age bracket to consider leaving the Island for fairer shores: 62 percent said yes, according to a survey commissioned by The Royal Gazette.

Overall, 51 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t relocate — and seven percent said they wished they could, but that it wasn’t possible.

The Global Research computer-assisted telephone interviewed 419 residents aged 18 and above, between March 31 and April 6 this year.

Asked if they had cut back on purchases because of the Island’s sluggish economy, 47 percent said they’d reduced spending on clothes and shoes — and 44 percent said they’d cut back on holidays and travel.

Grocery purchases came next, at 44 percent, followed by dining out, at 42 percent.

Meanwhile, 15 percent of respondents had refrained from buying the latest cell phone — and ten percent said they’d cut back on internet spending.

Eighteen percent of residents said the Island’s slow economic recovery hadn’t reduced their spending, however.

Nearly half of women said they’d reduced grocery spending, versus 38 percent of men; the figures were almost exactly reversed when it came to dining out.

Eight percent of respondents identifying themselves as black said they’d cut back on education because of the economy, against three percent of whites.