2023 Study: Where Americans Are Moving Abroad Post-Pandemic

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Key Findings:

  • The UK is the #1 destination for moving abroad (~21,900 moves), ahead of Mexico (19,620 moves).
  • Compared to the same period last year, 30% more Americans moved to the UK in the first six months of 2023 
  • Canada welcomed 10% more Americans as new residents in the first six months of 2023 than at this time last year, according to official figures
  • 22% more Americans moved to European countries in 2022 (100,320) than in 2021
  • Fewer Americans are interested in moving abroad in 2023, as the number of relevant Google searches is down 30% year-over-year

When we last covered the topic of Americans moving abroad in late 2022, the interest in leaving the country was the highest it’s been since the Presidential Elections in 2016.

This year, despite a 30% reduction in moving-abroad-related Google searches, American moves outside of the country don’t seem to be slowing down. In fact, more Americans moved to the UK, Mexico, and Canada so far in 2023 than at this time last year. 

In this year’s study, we chart the updated numbers of Americans moving abroad, look at top destinations overall, and highlight the fastest-growing areas in recent years.


Less Googling, More Moving: Moves to Top Destinations Hold Steady as Search Interest Declines

In the first nine months of 2023, there were around 59,000 monthly Google searches in the United States for “moving abroad” or “moving to <insert country>”.

 

“Not only has the UK overtaken Mexico as the top destination overall, but Canada received fewer U.S. citizens as new residents (10,415) than France (12,220), Spain (11,156), and Germany (10,510).”

 

Impressive as that number is, it’s 30% less than in 2022 when the average number of monthly searches for moving abroad and related keywords was 84,020. This includes a 53% reduction in searches for “moving to Canada”, and an 81% year-over-year drop in searches for “moving to Spain”.

Only a handful of countries saw a higher search interest in 2023. Searches for moving to the Middle Eastern countries of Bahrain (+50%) and Saudi Arabia (+43%) spiked the highest, while Belgium (+18%) and South Africa (+15%) saw a moderate increase in relocation interest.

an illustration of two people sitting in a living room. the canadian flag can be seen waving outside the window.But while the search interest in moving abroad is waning, the number of U.S. citizens moving to some of the top destination countries in 2023 is increasing year-over-year.

The United Kingdom, for example, had over 11,500 Americans move there from January through June 2023, about 30% more than in the first six months of 2022. The number of Americans who moved to Canada (+10%) and Mexico (+1%) in the first eight months of 2023 is higher than in the same period last year. 


Steady Flow: American Moves Abroad Hit Five-Year High in 2022

According to official statistics, almost 160,000 U.S. citizens relocated to one of 40 different countries for work, study, or family reasons in 2022. Which is more Americans leaving the country than any year since 2017

The most popular destinations for Americans moving abroad include countries such as Mexico, Canada, the UK, all the countries of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Israel.

2022’s figure is not only the highest number going back five years, but it also represents a 16% increase in the number of moves abroad compared to 2021. In fairness, the years 2020 and 2021 were significantly affected by the pandemic, resulting in a significant decrease in moves abroad and travel in general.

Taken together, over 821,000 U.S. citizens relocated to one of these 40 countries since 2017. 

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Move Over, Canada: Top Destinations for American Moves Abroad in 2022

If Americans are leaving the country in record numbers, where are they going? Traditionally, the top destinations have been America’s neighbors Canada and Mexico, and the United Kingdom, with whom the U.S. has significant historical ties.

In 2022, however, the top destinations looked different. Not only has the UK overtaken Mexico as the top destination overall, but Canada received fewer U.S. citizens as new residents (10,415) than France (12,220), Spain (11,156), and Germany (10,510).

As Canada drops a few places in the destinations ranking, Japan is on its way up. Having been closed for entry due to the COVID-19 pandemic longer than most countries, it only properly reopened in 2022 to see 6,642 U.S. citizens relocate there — more than twice as many moves than in 2021 (2,983).

Surf’s Up: Fastest-Growing Destinations for Americans Leaving the U.S.

Japan may have recorded a significant bump in the number of U.S. citizens relocating there, but it’s actually a return to normal numbers after the steep drop caused by COVID. 

Portugal has seen the greatest influx of moves (+195%) from the United States compared to before the pandemic. Known for being one of the sunniest countries in the world, with a relatively low cost of living, and beautiful beaches, it became a top destination for digital nomads during the pandemic years. 

New Zealand — another country with world-renowned beaches and scenery — is the second fastest-growing destination for Americans moving abroad, with 146% taking residence there in 2022, compared to 2019.

On the other hand, countries such as Brazil (-50%), Ireland (-33%), and South Korea (-31%) saw the number of Americans moving decline compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Why We Leave: Some Reasons Behind Americans Moving Abroad

While we don’t have hard data on the specific reasons why Americans decide to leave the United States, there are a few factors we can pinpoint.

 

“According to official statistics, almost 160,000 U.S. citizens relocated to one of 40 different countries for work, study, or family reasons in 2022. Which is more Americans leaving the country than any year since 2017.”

 

According to a recent Washington Post analysis, one reason for the rise of Americans moving to Mexico is that ethnic Mexicans (who were born in the U.S. and have U.S. citizenship) decide to move to Mexico with family. Deportations, unfortunately, also play a part.

The same analysis picks out “a sense of adventure” as one of the forces driving Americans to move abroad, such as wanting to work or study somewhere completely different. More pragmatic reasons include lower cost of living, lower taxation, and better quality of life, as CNN’s reporting suggests.

There is some anecdotal evidence that the rise of remote work and the digital nomad movement is responsible for some Americans leaving the U.S., but it’s difficult to estimate how permanent those moves are and how many people are making them.


Sources and Methodology

Only moves with stated reasons indicating a certain degree of permanence were analyzed, including work, study, and family. Military moves were excluded, as were the moves for temporary purposes, such as temporary business and tourism.
Sources for each country:
The number of monthly searches was taken from Google Ads API as the total average monthly search volume for keywords of the type “moving to <insert country>” (e.g., “moving to Canada”, “moving to Mexico” and “moving abroad”.

Illustrations by Emma Donnelly

2022 Study: Where Americans Are Actually Moving Abroad ????✈️

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Key Statistics on Americans Moving Abroad:

  • Mexico is the top destination for Americans moving abroad, followed by the U.K., Canada and Australia
  • So far in 2022, ~75% more Americans have moved to Mexico than Canada 
  • Portugal has seen the biggest percentage increase in Americans moving in (+122% from 2019-2021)
  • Japan had the highest % drop of Americans moving in (-53% fewer in 2021 compared to 2019)
  • A five-year low, 2020 saw just under 74,000 Americans relocate abroad
  • Canada, Spain and the U.K. are the most Googled moving destinations this year

In our last study on Americans moving abroad, we detailed the places Americans who leave the country target, as well as explored some of the reasons driving them to leave.

Nearly two years later, now is as great a time as ever to revisit American immigration, given recent high-profile Supreme Court decisions, a spike in the cost of living, and chronically unaffordable housing all among the major issues contributing to a persistent global perception that America is a less desirable place to live.

But what do the numbers say?

In this study, we examine what countries Americans have been moving to, where they’re thinking of moving based on their Google searches, and how both of those trends have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Going South? Mexico Tops U.K. and Canada as Americans’ Top Destination

Based on the most recent data, over 16,000 U.S. citizens moved to Mexico as temporary or permanent residents in 2021. That’s more than any of the 15 most common destination countries for American moves abroad (more on this later).

 

“Last year, 34% more Americans relocated to Mexico than to Canada.”

 

Moves to Mexico outnumber those to the United Kingdom (14,626), and Canada (11,955), which are the second and third most popular destinations. The fourth most popular destination is Australia, where an estimated 7,948 Americans relocated in 2021. 

Spain rounds off the top five, welcoming 7,173 Americans as new residents this year, overtaking other European destinations like France and Germany, as well as countries farther afield, such as Israel, Japan, and New Zealand.

Where to Now? Where Americans Are Ending up in 2022

While the statistics on moves this year haven’t been published by most of the countries we analyzed, we do have specific figures on the number of Americans who moved to Canada, the U.K., and Mexico in 2022.

Some 10,594 Americans moved to Mexico in 2022, which is 75% higher than those who moved to Canada (6,025). And this isn’t the first time Mexico-bound moves outnumber moves to Canada either.

Last year, 34% more Americans relocated to Mexico than to Canada. In the last five years, Mexico attracted an accumulative 13% more U.S. citizens than America’s neighbor to the north.

If migration to Mexico continues at its current pace, the country will receive over 18,000 U.S. citizens as new residents, a new five-year high

Interestingly, more Americans are even moving across the Atlantic to the U.K. than across their northern border. (As many as 8,324 U.S. citizens have relocated to the United Kingdom so far in 2022, which is 38% more than the number of those who moved to Canada.)

Yet while still high, the total tally of Americans moving to the U.K. and Canada in 2022 currently projects at 14,269 and 10,328 respectively—both below their 2021 levels.

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Goodbye, Japan! Hello, Portugal! Unique Trends in U.S. Moves Abroad 

Between 2017-2019, the raw number of Americans moving into one of the top 15 countries we profiled was roughly around 104,000 Americans a year.

The COVID pandemic made a significant dent in that number in 2020, bringing the number down to under 74,000 Americans leaving for new countries, roughly a 29% drop.

Yet as COVID restrictions have eased and vaccination programs have been introduced across the world, moves abroad picked up the pace again in 2021 (the last year for which government data has been released); moves abroad reached 97,806 last year— almost on par with the pre-pandemic years.

Based on countries that published their immigration statistics for 2022, the number of Americans moving to one of the top 15 countries in our analysis may return to six-digit figures by the end of 2022. However, with an estimated 100,975 moves, ex-pats likely will remain just below pre-pandemic levels.

Countries Defying the Numbers

Overall, there are still outlier countries that saw a significant jump in their total of American immigrants during 2021. Chief among them is Portugal, with 2,475 U.S. citizens relocating to this European country last year. That’s ~122% more Americans who moved there than in either 2020 or 2019!

 

“Canada may not be topping the rankings of move destinations, but it sure dominates moving intent. Americans typed ‘moving to Canada’ into Google approximately 21,000 a month in 2022, far more than similar keywords for other countries.”

 

Other countries that saw a significant percentage increase in the number of U.S. inbound moves post-pandemic include New Zealand (+78% in 2021 versus 2019), Costa Rica (+47%), and Israel (+40%).

That said, not all countries saw a return to pre-pandemic moving levels. With 2,983 moves last year, U.S. migration to Japan is still 53% below the 2019 levels. (This is no surprise, as the country has only just recently opened its borders to individual tourists.)

Elsewhere, six major countries that are traditionally among the most popular destinations for Americans saw fewer Americans moving to them in 2021 as compared to 2019. These countries are:

  • Italy (-41%)
  • France (-28%)
  • Germany (-24%)
  • Ireland (-21%),
  • U.K. (-20%),
  • South Korea (-16%)

Moving Intent: Most Searched Moving Abroad Destinations in 2022

Canada may not be topping the rankings of move destinations, but it sure dominates moving intent.

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Americans typed “moving to Canada” into Google approximately 21,000 a month in 2022, far more than similar keywords for other countries.

Surprisingly, the second most searched-for moving destination is not Mexico, but Spain, with 8,100 monthly searches so far this year. It’s just ahead of the three English-speaking countries: the ever-present U.K. (7,670 monthly searches), Australia (5,080), and New Zealand (3,800).

The top 20 most-searched-for-moving destinations are grouped as follows:

Some of these countries have historical ties to the United States, such as Japan (2,850 monthly searches), Ireland (2,140), and the Netherlands (1,190). Yet many are simply known for their relative prosperity and robust social welfare systems, such as Switzerland, Iceland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark

Then there are places most known for their warm, pleasant climates and comparatively lower cost of living, like Portugal, Costa Rica, Mexico and Belize.

Lockdown Dreams Vs. COVID Reality: As Intent To Move Abroad Peaked in 2020, Actual Moves Plummeted

After diving deeper into Americans’ plans to move abroad, an interesting trend emerged. The number of searches for keywords around moving abroad was at a five-year high in 2020.

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (also an election year), America saw 102,000 monthly searches related to moving abroad, or to a particular country. This was a whopping 40% increase from the year prior!

However, this five-year high in searches ironically overlapped with a five-year low in actual moves abroad. Again, just under 74,000 Americans moved into one of the top 15 destination countries in 2020. That’s around 30% fewer than in either 2018 or 2019.

In 2021, moving abroad-related searches went back down, with about 28% fewer searches compared to 2020. Yet wanderlust has interestingly recovered in 2022; there have been 92,000 monthly searches for moving abroad, including to specific countries.

While still behind the 2020 peak of Canadian obsession, the current volume of searches is still higher than in the pre-pandemic years.

Mixed Picture: Reasons Why Americans Leave the United States

canada

In absence of hard data, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact reasons that are pushing Americans to move abroad. A recent article in Entrepreneur suggests the recent strengthening of the dollar and the rise of remote work play a part.

Reports in Forbes and Bloomberg both hint that the prospect of home ownership getting further out of reach is what is pushing Americans out of the country. In this vein, remote work and remote-work-specific visas are cited as contributing factors for defectors.

The truth is it’s still too early to definitively tell whether recent political events in the U.S. will shape immigration. However, what we do know is there continues to be an increasing number of reports of young Americans and people of color leaving the country in search of a safer and more equitable place to live.


Sources and Methodology
The top 15 countries outlined in this study are a combination of countries with most U.S. citizens living abroad (based on International Migrant Stock data, see Origin and Destination file) and the countries most searched as destinations for “moving to <insert country>” queries based on Google search volume data for 2022 obtained by Google Ads API. Only moves with stated reasons indicating a certain degree of permanence were analyzed, including work, study and family. Military moves were excluded, as were the moves for temporary purposes, such as temporary business and tourism.
Sources for each country:
Mexico: Unidad de Política Migratoria – Boletines Estadísticos
United Kingdom: Home Office – Managed Migration Datasets
Canada: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Australia: Home Affairs: Visa Statistics
Spain: Ministerio De Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones – Flujo de Autorizaciones de Residencia Concedidas a Extranjeros
Germany: Federal Statistical Office of Germany 
France: Direction générale des étrangers en France – Chiffres-clés, séjour, visas, éloignements, asile, accès à la nationalité
Ireland: Central Statistics Office – Population and Migration Estimates
South Korea: Statistics Korea – International Migration Statistics
Italy: I.Stat – Permessi di soggiorno dei cittadini stranieri
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics – Immigration
Japan: e-Stat – Immigration Control Statistics – Status of Residence for Newly Entered Foreigners by Nationality/Region
Portugal: PorData
New Zealand: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment – Migration Statistics
Costa Rica: Dirección General de Migración y Extranjeria – Informes Estadísticos Anuales​
The number of monthly searches was taken from Google Ads API as the total average monthly search volume for keywords of the type “moving to <insert country>” (e.g., “moving to canada”, “moving to mexico” and “moving abroad”.)
Data was collected in September 2022. Browse the data in the interactive table below.
Illustrations by Emma Donnelly

How to Move to Canada

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The maple leaves are calling. You have found yourself singing, “Oh Canada,” and watching hockey (with actual interest). Now, you’re ready to douse yourself in real maple syrup and get stuck on your neighbor to the north. But before you get yourself into a sticky situation, recognize that Canada is actually not part of the United States, so moving there requires some serious effort. In fact, it can take up to two years to file all the correct paperwork and get approval.

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