Americans are ditching America in droves

  

Americans are ditching America in droves

Illustration of the American flag, as if the stripes were roads or paths, and groups of people with luggage are using them to walk offscreen.

Nick Iluzada

If you hear someone with a Texas twang ordering a tall iced coffee with seven sugars in a Parisian cafe, they might be a local. Americans are moving abroad in record numbers, with at least 180,000 US citizens relocating overseas in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal.

On top of surging deportations and lower immigration, departing Americans have flipped the migration balance, pushing US departures above arrivals for the first time since 1935, according to the Brookings Institution. An estimated 4 million to 9 million Americans are now expats, and their ranks grew last year:

  • The American population of Portugal grew more than fivefold from 4,768 in 2020 to 26,000 in 2025.
  • The number of Americans moving to Ireland more than doubled from 2024 (4,900) to 2025 (9,600), while British citizenship applications from US nationals grew to a record 8,790—42% more than the previous high of 6,192 in 2024.

Why seek greener pastures? A lower cost of living on a US income appeals, as do sangria lunches a Euro lifestyle and social-safety-net perks. Some transplants also cite concerns about the US political climate.

The American dream, for many, is now a villa in Barcelona. The share of US adults who desire to relocate overseas permanently doubled between 2010 and 2025, to 20%. And 40% of American women age 15 to 44 now say they want to leave the country, per Gallup.

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