How many US citizens are living abroad? Which countries have the most US expats?

pallega

4.1 million Americans, excluding military, live outside the US in 160+ countries. An estimated 550,000 military and government personnel and dependents also live abroad, most in Europe and Asia. This is only the numbers that are "known". The US State Department estimates that there are really around 6.6 million. The reason that this is an estimate and not exact is because many Americans "fall off the radar". If an American living abroad stops paying their taxes, stops visiting the US, stops using embassy or consulate services they will not be OFFICIALLY counted anymore.

Unfortunately, the US Census does not count Americans living outside the country. To understand how many Americans live abroad, we have to add the numbers back into the census estimates.

Also, consider that the number of Americans living abroad 40 years ago was only 735,500 (see http://www.escapeartist.com/transatlantic/magazine4.htm). The US POPCLOCK (see source) estimates that there 298,675,051 people living in the US. If the estimate of 6.6 million is to be believed, that's 2.16% of all Americans living outside the USA today. If the US population in 1966 is estimated to be 196,560,338, then that would have meant that only 0.37% of Americans were living outside the US 40 years ago. That's a growth of over 579 times the original percentage. In whole numbers that's 897 times the number of Americans abroad in 1966.

Where do they all go? Use the map from The Association of American Residents Abroad to find the breakdown by country.

How long have they been there? No one truly knows this answer. If we had access to US tax data we'd have a sense of that for those that have continued to pay their taxes during their time abroad. Unfortunately, access to such information is not allowed for this purpose.

How long do they plan on living "there"? That's another question with no specific answer. Many expatriates are "serial" expatriates. This means that they may move from country to country. Others may be legally allowed to remain in a country only as long as they are employed by their current employer. If that job ends and no one else will give them a work permit then they must leave. Since we cannot assume when a job might end or even when an individual decides to return to the US, we cannot answer this question.

To help you understand why it's difficult to know when someone will "return", a few stories might help. An American woman came to Europe 23 years ago, fell in love with a Danish man, married, had children and will never "return". An American woman came to Sweden 30 years ago, married a Swede, had children and they went to the US for 10 years and have now retired in Sweden. Americans are retiring to Panama & Costa Rica in record numbers and have no intention of "returning". A man came to the United Kingdom 8 years ago, gained dual citizenship 3 years ago, has bought a house and has no plans to "return". Another man who came to the United Kingdom with no plans to "return", married a nice American girl and is now moving back to the USA after 10 years abroad. A couple moved to London for a specific job for 1 year and, when the job was completed, moved back to the States immediately. An American couple who have NEVER lived in the USA have a baby outside the USA and that baby is now an American citizen even though this family has never lived in the USA. They can't "return" because they never "left".

These stories reflect the diversity of experiences that make it impossible to know "when" someone will "return", if they ever do. It is clear that, even if many "return", the numbers that are leaving to experience life abroad are continuing to increase every year.

philski333

Time to do your own homework

ernie_fergler

I believe the UK has the highest number of Americans residing abroad, but cannot locate the data.

tianjingabi

Very interesting question and extremely informative answer by Pallega. I clicked on your question, not because I have an answer, but because I'm one of those Americans living abroad and I was curious.

I've been living abroad for 11 years in three different countries, the Czech Republic, Greece, and China. At this point in time I have no plans to "return", but I very well may in the future. I believe Pallega puts that in quotes because we return regularly, but only for brief visits, not to stay.

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