In Portugal, the US population has jumped more than 500% since the pandemic
Americans are leaving the country in numbers not seen in decades. In 2025, at least 180,000 US citizens moved abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The country also recorded a net negative migration of about 150,000 people, according to the Brookings Institution. That means more people moved out than moved in, something that hasn’t happened since 1935.
Total in-migration fell to around 2.6 million to 2.7 million, down from nearly 6 million in 2023. Deportations reached 675,000, and 2.2 million people left voluntarily, based on federal data.
A growing life overseas
Americans are settling across Europe and beyond. They are buying homes in Lisbon, Dublin, and Berlin and raising children while working remote jobs.
Ireland welcomed 9,600 Americans in 2025, about twice as many as the year before. In Portugal, the US population has jumped more than 500% since the pandemic. The number of Americans in Portugal increased from 4,768 in 2020 to 26,000 in 2025—a more than fivefold jump.
More than 100,000 US students now study abroad, while retirees head to Mexico due to lower living and healthcare costs.
Why it matters
The State Department estimates between 4 million and 9 million Americans live overseas. Interest in leaving is also rising. One out of five Americans told Gallup they would like to move abroad in 2024—double the share during the 2008 recession.
For many families, higher US wages now support a new goal: build a safer, more affordable life somewhere else.