British acts have experienced a 45% drop in European festival bookings post-Brexit, according to analysis by campaign group, Best for Britain.

The study looked at the line-ups for three major European festivals—Benicassim, Sziget and Lollapalooza—in 2017 to 2019 and compared the number of British acts booked with those on the bill for the 2022 editions.

The sobering stats show how the U.K. Government’s “dud Brexit deal” is robbing emerging British talent of opportunities abroad, Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smith said.

Challenges associated with British acts playing overseas post-Brexit have been well-documented and include costly bureaucracy and delays at border checks. These issues are reportedly disproportionately impacting new acts, who are losing out on the common practice of securing last-minute vacancies in a festival line-up.

Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and U.K. Trade and Business Commissioner Deborah Annetts said: “Whoever ends up replacing Boris Johnson must commit to removing this needless bureaucracy which is stifling the prosperity and creativity of the next generation of British musicians.”