In 2025, the United States faced a situation for the first time in nearly a century in which more people left the country than entered it. A nation long considered the world’s main destination for migrants is gradually turning into an exporter of population. This is the conclusion drawn by The Wall Street Journal, which analyzed new migration trends. Le Monde Vu D’ailleurs summarizes the key points of the publication.
According to analysts at the Brookings Institution, the United States recorded a net migration loss of around 150,000 people in 2025. The trend is expected to intensify in 2026. At the same time, the number of foreigners entering the country has sharply declined: while nearly six million people arrived in the United States in 2023, the figure dropped to about 2.6–2.7 million in 2025.
During the same period, U.S. authorities recorded about 675,000 forced deportations, while roughly 2.2 million people left the country voluntarily, fearing possible sanctions from immigration authorities. The administration of Donald Trump presented these figures as proof of the effectiveness of its strict migration policy. However, it is not only foreigners who are leaving the country, an increasing number of American citizens are doing so as well.
The federal government does not keep official statistics on the emigration of Americans. Researchers therefore rely on indirect indicators such as the number of residence permits issued to Americans abroad, property purchases in other countries, enrollments in foreign universities, and other data. These figures suggest that between four and nine million U.S. citizens currently live outside the United States.
The largest American community abroad is in Mexico. According to the U.S. State Department, about 1.6 million American citizens lived there in 2022. More than 250,000 Americans reside in Canada, over 325,000 in the United Kingdom, and roughly 1.5 million live across Europe.
The true scale of emigration may be even greater. Many Americans living abroad do not appear in official statistics. This includes children born overseas to American parents, students on long-term visas, and people who effectively live in another country while formally maintaining tourist status and regularly making “visa runs” to renew their stay.
In recent years, the number of Americans moving to live and work in European Union countries has reached record levels in almost every member state. In Portugal, their number has increased by more than 500% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and rose by another 36% in 2024 alone. In Spain and the Netherlands, the number of Americans has nearly doubled over the past decade, while in the Czech Republic it has more than doubled.
In 2025, more Americans moved to Germany than Germans moved to the United States. Ireland welcomed around ten thousand U.S. citizens in a single year, twice as many as the year before.
At the same time, the number of Americans seeking to renounce their citizenship is growing. Authorities report months-long waiting lists for those filing applications to give up their U.S. citizenship, often in order to obtain another passport or to escape the American tax system, which taxes income earned abroad. In 2024, the number of such applications increased by 48%.
Americans are also applying for British citizenship more frequently than at any time since 2004 and are obtaining Irish passports in large numbers. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. companies specializing in relocation and expatriation services continues to grow.
According to a Gallup survey, about 40% of American women aged 15 to 44 say they would like to move abroad permanently. This figure is higher than in most regions of the world.
In recent years, entire hubs of the American diaspora have emerged. Large communities have formed in Lisbon, Dublin, Bali, as well as in several cities in Colombia and Thailand. In some of these locations, the influx of foreigners, including many Americans, has already begun pushing up property prices, provoking protests among local residents.
Another trend concerns education and retirement abroad. More than one hundred thousand American students are currently pursuing higher education outside the United States, as tuition abroad is often cheaper than in American universities. Older Americans are also increasingly choosing retirement homes in Mexico, where the cost of care is significantly lower.
Some countries are actively trying to attract U.S. citizens. Albania, for example, offers a special visa that allows Americans to live and work in the country for a year without paying taxes on foreign income.
As interest in expatriation grows, an entire relocation industry has emerged. Agencies offer consultations, help prepare documents, and organize exploratory trips to potential destinations. According to representatives of these companies, the profile of those seeking to leave has changed significantly in recent years. Previously, most were highly qualified professionals pursuing international careers. Today, more and more of them are ordinary members of the American middle class.
Many observers attribute the wave of departures to the policies of the Trump administration. However, researchers note that the process began long before his return to the White House. Among the main reasons are the spread of remote work, the rising cost of living in the United States, and growing disillusionment with the American lifestyle, which many see as overly competitive and dominated by long working hours.
Some Americans cite more specific concerns. Parents, for example, say they do not want their children attending schools where mass shootings could occur.
At the same time, many Americans who have lived abroad say the European social model offers a more comfortable and secure life. Many continue to work for U.S. companies, however, because salaries in the United States remain higher on average.
Even the weakening of the dollar against the euro has not reversed the trend. In 2024, the number of Americans moving to the largest eurozone countries continued to grow. In a world shaped by globalization and remote work, more and more people are choosing to combine American incomes with life in another country.
