Positive news for the international moving consumer segment in the United States and those companies that serve them at their destinations, as figures suggest that more people moved out of the country than moved in since 1935.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States experienced net negative migration, with a loss of some 150,000 people last year according to the public-policy think tank, Brookings Institution, with a prediction that the trend will likely increase in 2026. Brooking’s analysts cautioned that the number could be larger or smaller because official data doesn’t yet fully capture the number of people leaving. The total “in-migration” to the United States was between 2.6 and 2.7 million in 2025, down from almost 6 million in 2023.
The trend of American citizens leaving the country has been growing for several years, driven by the rise of remote work, living costs, and a desire for foreign lifestyles, especially in Europe. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimates that the United Kingdom hosts more than 325,000 American citizens, part of the more than 1.5 million now living in Europe. The number of Americans moving to live and work is at a record and rising in nearly all of the European Union’s member states. In 2025, more Americans moved to Germany than Germans moved to the United States, Ireland welcomed 10,000 people, and the number of American residents has nearly doubled in Spain and the Netherlands.