Americans Moving Abroad: 25 Statistics for 2026

Estimates of how many Americans live abroad have come down. The figure of 9 million that circulated for years is no longer published by the U.S. State Department, and the best current estimates put the number between 4 and 5.5 million, according to an analysis by Greenback Expat Tax Services.

That correction matters if you are planning a move, because a decision built on an inflated number is a decision built on the wrong picture.

This post collects 25 Americans moving abroad statistics for 2026. Each figure links to the page it came from and carries the year of the data, so you can check every number yourself. It is the research side of moving abroad as a working-age American.

How These Numbers Were Checked

Every figure on this page was reviewed on 6 October 2026.

The rule for this page is simple. Each statistic links directly to its source, and each one states the year the data describes. A figure that could not be traced to a reachable source during that review was removed, along with any sentence that depended on it.

Government and official sources come first: the State Department, the IRS, the Federal Register, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and national statistics offices abroad. Established research bodies and named company reports come next, and only when their pages are reachable and show the figure.

Where sources disagree, both numbers are shown with the source that gives each one. Where the newest data is a few years old, the year says so.

How Many Americans Live Abroad in 2026

Nobody counts this directly. The United States does not require citizens to register when they leave, so every figure here is an estimate built from voting, tax, or survey data.

Stat 1. An estimated 4.4 million U.S. citizens were living overseas during the 2022 general election, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s 2022 overseas citizen population analysis. This is the most recent federal estimate built on a published method.

Stat 2. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimates that 5.5 million Americans live abroad, per its current estimate page, reviewed in October 2026. AARO is an advocacy group for Americans overseas, so its figure sits at the higher end of the range.

Stat 3. Independent estimates cluster between 4 and 5.5 million, according to Greenback Expat Tax Services, drawing on 2022 and 2023 data. Greenback also reports that the State Department will no longer publish its older estimate.

Older articles still quote 9 million Americans abroad. That number dates from around 2016 and has been retired, so treat any page that still leads with it as out of date.

Stat 4. There were 183,170,240 valid U.S. passports in circulation in fiscal year 2025, according to the State Department’s reports and statistics page. Holding a passport is not the same as living abroad, but the total shows how many Americans could leave.

Stat 5. The State Department issued 27,348,416 passports in fiscal year 2025, per the same State Department statistics page.

Stat 6. 5,790 people appeared in the Treasury’s quarterly lists of individuals who gave up U.S. citizenship or long-term residency over the four quarters to mid-2026, including 3,243 in the first half of 2026, according to a Greenback tally of the Federal Register notices. That is a very small share of the millions living abroad.

These Americans moving abroad statistics set the baseline. A realistic range today is roughly 4 to 5.5 million Americans abroad, not 9 million.

Where Americans Live Abroad: Official Counts by Country

There is no single official table of where Americans live. The most reliable Americans moving abroad statistics by country come from the destination countries themselves, through their census or residence permit records.

Stat 7. 256,000 U.S. immigrants were living in Canada at the time of the 2021 census, according to Statistics Canada. That count covers immigrants only, so it leaves out people with Canadian citizenship by descent and temporary residents.

Stat 8. 203,281 people living in England and Wales were born in the USA, according to the Office for National Statistics, using Census 2021 data. Scotland and Northern Ireland are counted separately.

Stat 9. 69,787 U.S. nationals were resident in Japan at the end of 2025, per Japan’s Immigration Services Agency. That was up about 5.6 percent on the year before.

Stat 10. 19,258 U.S. citizens held residence in Portugal in 2024, up from 14,126 in 2023, according to Portugal’s immigration agency AIMA in its 2024 migration report and 2023 migration report. That is growth of roughly 36 percent in a single year.

Stat 11. Portugal granted 2,901 investment residence permits in 2023, and the United States was the top nationality with 567 of them, per the AIMA 2023 migration report. China and the United Kingdom followed.

If Portugal is on your list, our Portugal Digital Nomad Visa guide covers the route most working-age Americans use.

Popular destinations such as Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Thailand are not given a number here, because no official count for them could be confirmed on the source’s own site during this review.

Money, Taxes and the Cost of Staying Home

Most moves start with a money question. These Americans moving abroad statistics give context on what Americans pay at home and what follows them abroad.

Stat 12. The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $26,993 in 2025, 6 percent higher than in 2024, according to the KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. It is a useful benchmark when comparing health costs abroad.

Stat 13. U.S. median household income was $87,460 in 2025, up 2.6 percent from 2024, according to the Census Bureau’s 2025 income report. It is a useful yardstick when comparing salaries and living costs abroad.

Stat 14. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets qualifying Americans abroad exclude up to $130,000 of foreign earned income in tax year 2025, per IRS Revenue Procedure 2024-40, and up to $132,900 in tax year 2026, per IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Older articles often still quote the 2024 figure.

Stat 15. Americans with foreign bank accounts must file an FBAR when the combined value of those accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, according to FinCEN. The threshold applies to the total across accounts, not each account.

Stat 16. The United States is one of only two countries that taxes individuals based on citizenship, the other being Eritrea, according to the Tax Foundation. Moving abroad does not end a U.S. filing obligation.

I am not a tax professional, so the tax figures here link straight to the IRS, FinCEN and other official sources. A qualified expat tax preparer is the right person for your own return.

If you are working out how long your savings will last, the MATK Runway Calculator lets you model your own cost timeline before you commit to a destination.

Visa, Passport and Citizenship Rules That Changed

Several rules that older statistics posts still describe have changed. These are the current positions.

Stat 17. The U.S. passport ranked 10th in the world with visa-free access to 179 destinations in January 2026, according to the Henley Passport Index January 2026 release. It was still in 10th place in the July 2026 edition.

Stat 18. More than 25 countries offered digital nomad visas by mid-2022, according to the Migration Policy Institute. This is the most recent count from a research body that could be verified, and the number has likely grown since.

Stat 19. Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying investment for its Golden Visa from 7 October 2023, under the Mais Habitação law, as reported by Migronis.

Stat 20. Spain abolished its investor visa, and since 3 April 2025 no new applications can be started, according to the Spanish government. Any post that describes Spain’s Golden Visa as open is out of date.

Stat 21. The fee to process a request to renounce U.S. citizenship fell from $2,350 to $450, effective 13 April 2026, according to the State Department’s final rule in the Federal Register.

Stat 22. The IRS treats someone giving up citizenship as a covered expatriate, subject to the expatriation tax, if their net worth is $2 million or more, or their average annual net income tax for the prior five years exceeds a set threshold. That threshold was $201,000 for 2024 and $206,000 for 2025, per the IRS expatriation tax page, and $211,000 for 2026, per Revenue Procedure 2025-32.

For most working-age Americans, neither test is close. These Americans moving abroad statistics on citizenship rules matter mainly to people with large estates.

Remote Work and Why Americans Move

Remote work is what makes a working-age move possible for many people. These Americans moving abroad statistics show how common it is and how employers handle work from abroad.

Stat 23. 35 percent of employed people in the U.S. did some or all of their work at home on the days they worked in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey.

Stat 24. 78 percent of employers surveyed by Mercer in 2023 allowed temporary international remote working, 40 percent case by case and 38 percent with a policy or guidelines in place, according to Mercer’s International Remote Working and Virtual Assignments survey. Temporary is the key word, since longer stays raise tax and payroll questions.

Stat 25. 63 percent of Americans expressed not too much or no confidence at all in the future of the U.S. political system in 2023, according to Pew Research Center. That is context for why some Americans consider living elsewhere, not a measure of how many actually leave.

Survey figures on why Americans move, broken down by age, income and household type, circulate widely online. The ones that could not be traced to a reachable survey page during this review have been left out.

What These Statistics Mean for Your Move

Three points stand out from these Americans moving abroad statistics.

First, the American population abroad is smaller than older headlines suggest. A range of 4 to 5.5 million is still large, and official counts in Portugal show strong recent growth.

Second, the rules keep moving. Golden visa routes in Portugal and Spain have closed or changed, the renunciation fee dropped sharply in 2026, and tax thresholds change every year. Always check the date on a figure before you plan around it.

Third, the costs at home are measurable. A family health premium near $27,000 a year is a concrete number to set against the cost of living in a destination you are considering.

Frequently Asked Questions About Americans Moving Abroad Statistics

How many Americans live abroad in 2026?

The best current estimates put the number between 4 and 5.5 million. The Federal Voting Assistance Program estimated 4.4 million U.S. citizens overseas in 2022, and AARO estimates 5.5 million.

Is the 9 million Americans abroad figure still accurate?

No. The 9 million figure dates from around 2016 and the State Department no longer publishes it. Independent estimates now cluster between 4 and 5.5 million.

How much does it cost to renounce U.S. citizenship in 2026?

The State Department fee is $450, effective 13 April 2026, down from $2,350. People who meet the covered expatriate tests may also owe the expatriation tax.

Do Americans abroad still pay U.S. taxes?

Yes. The U.S. taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is $130,000 for 2025 and $132,900 for 2026, and an FBAR is required when foreign accounts together exceed $10,000.

Which countries publish counts of American residents?

Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Portugal all publish official figures. Canada counted 256,000 U.S. immigrants in 2021, England and Wales 203,281 U.S.-born residents in 2021, Japan 69,787 U.S. nationals at the end of 2025, and Portugal 19,258 U.S. residents in 2024.

How were these statistics checked?

Every figure was reviewed on 6 October 2026. Each one links to its source and states the year of the data, and any figure that could not be traced to a reachable source was removed.

Sources

Every source behind these Americans moving abroad statistics was reached during the 6 October 2026 review.

1. Federal Voting Assistance Program, 2022 Overseas Citizen Population Analysis, https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Reports/rtc_20231113_V10_FINAL.pdf
2. AARO, How Many Americans Live Abroad, https://aaro.org/living-abroad/how-many-americans-live-abroad
3. Greenback Expat Tax Services, How Many Americans Live Abroad, https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/blog/how-many-americans-live-abroad/
4. U.S. Department of State, Reports and Statistics, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/about-us/reports-and-statistics.html
5. Greenback Expat Tax Services, tally of Federal Register expatriation notices, https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/blog/renunciation-data-report/
6. Statistics Canada, U.S. immigrants in Canada, 2021 Census, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2025008-eng.htm
7. Office for National Statistics, US immigration to the UK since 2010, https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/usimmigrationtotheuksince2010
8. Immigration Services Agency of Japan, foreign resident statistics, end of 2025, https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001459094.pdf
9. AIMA Portugal, Migration and Asylum Report 2024, https://aima.gov.pt/media/pages/documents/fec4d6a712-1760603125/relatorio-migracoes-e-asilo-2024.pdf
10. AIMA Portugal, Migration and Asylum Report 2023, https://aima.gov.pt/documents/rma-2023.pdf
11. KFF, 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey, https://www.kff.org/health-costs/2025-employer-health-benefits-survey/
12. U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2026/demo/p60-289.html
13. IRS, Revenue Procedure 2024-40, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-24-40.pdf
14. IRS, Revenue Procedure 2025-32, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
15. IRS, Expatriation Tax, https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/expatriation-tax
16. FinCEN, Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, https://www.fincen.gov/report-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts
17. Tax Foundation, How Countries Define Their Income Tax Borders, https://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-countries-define-their-income-tax-borders-0/
18. Henley and Partners, Henley Passport Index, January 2026, https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/henley-global-mobility-report-january-2026
19. Henley and Partners, Henley Passport Index, July 2026, https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/henley-passport-index-20th-anniversary
20. Migration Policy Institute, Remote Work and Immigration, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/remote-work-immigration
21. Migronis, Portugal’s new Golden Visa rules, https://migronis.com/news/new-portugals-golden-visa-rules-took-effect-on-october-7
22. Spanish Government, Abolition of the investor visa, https://one.gob.es/en/contents/abolition-investor-visa-spain-and-its-implications
23. Federal Register, Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, 13 March 2026, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/13/2026-04931/schedule-of-fees-for-consular-services-fee-for-administrative-processing-of-request-for-certificate
24. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm
25. Mercer, International Remote Working and Virtual Assignments survey, https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/irwva
26. Pew Research Center, Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics, 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/09/19/americans-dismal-views-of-the-nations-politics/

About the Author

Kimberly Joy is the founder of MoveAbroadToolkit. She funded her own move abroad by liquidating: she sold her house, sold her car to CarMax, and sold her belongings on Facebook Marketplace and at garage sales.

She has lived in South Africa for 6 to 9 months and in France for 4 months, and was a digital nomad in the past. She uses Wise, SafetyWing and NordVPN herself. She is not a tax professional, which is why every tax figure on this page links to its official source.

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Plan Your Move

These americans moving abroad statistics are useful for context, but the real work is in the numbers specific to your life. The MATK Toolkit consolidates the resources, guides, and frameworks that working-age Americans need to plan an international move with confidence. Use the Runway Calculator to estimate how long your savings will last in your target destination, factoring in local cost of living, visa requirements, and your income situation. If you are starting from zero on your research, begin with the Portugal Digital Nomad Visa guide, which remains one of the most viable pathways for Americans with remote income as of 2026.