They used to call it the brain drain to London - but record numbers of Londoners are moving to Birmingham.

Exclusive Birmingham Live analysis can reveal that ever-more people are shunning the capital to live in the area.

A whopping 7,620 people left London to move to Birmingham last year - making it the most popular destination for Londoners in England.

That is according to new data from the Office for National Statistics.

Our area lost 6,960 Brummies to London, though that still means London suffered a loss of 660 people to Birmingham - or nearly two people a day.

Meanwhile Coventry had nearly double the net number of Londoners moving to the area than Birmingham.

Coventry saw 4,040 Londoners move to the area while 2,870 headed to the capital - a net net gain of 1,170 people.

Overall, a total of 16,370 people moved from London to the West Midlands, while 12,700 moved from the west midlands to London.

That was a net gain of 3,670 Londoners.

It’s an impressive feat when you consider that we’re around 120 miles away from the capital city.

One reason people could be moving here is because house prices in our region remain substantially cheaper than in London.

The average home costs £186,480 in the West Midlands - some 60.4 per cent cheaper than the average £484,584 it costs to buy a home in London.

Birmingham attracts more thirtysomething Londoners than anywhere else in the UK

There's also the fact that Birmingham is the regeneration capital of the country at the moment.

Areas like the old wholesale markets are being transformed into Smithfield, a world class family hub, while the Curzon Street scheme, around the new city centre HS2 station, will see billions invested.

Overall London is hemorrhaging more people than ever, suffering a net loss of 106,620 people to other parts of the UK in 2017.

Some 225,690 people moved to the capital while 332,310 left.

That’s a huge increase from the net loss of 50,670 people some five years earlier in 2012.

Stephen Clarke, senior economic analyst for Resolution Foundation, a living standards think tank, said: “London is a net exporter of people to the rest of the UK.

"This is likely due to high housing costs with figures suggesting that people are leaving London when they have children and want to put down roots, a struggle given property prices in the capital.

“London needs to get a handle on its high housing costs if its ‘living standards exodus’ is to be stopped. To do this, the number of new homes built needs to match the capital’s housing needs.

"Furthermore, a significant proportion of new housing stock needs to be genuinely affordable – and that should apply to both homes to rent, and to buy.”

Local authority // people moving from LA to London // people moving from London to LA // net loss

Birmingham \\ 7620 \\ 6960 \\ -660

Coventry \\ 4040 \\ 2870 \\ -1170

Dudley \\ 730 \\ 440 \\ -290

Sandwell \\ 1480 \\ 700 \\ -780

Solihull \\ 560 \\ 470 \\ -90

Walsall \\ 710 \\ 420 \\ -290

Wolverhampton \\ 1230 \\ 840 \\ -390