In 2025, the United States experienced net negative migration for the first time in nearly a century: more people left the country than entered. According to the Brookings Institution, the net outflow was approximately 150,000 people. Analysts predict that this figure could increase further in 2026.
The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing data on issued residence permits, foreign real estate purchases, enrollment in foreign universities, and other indirect indicators. Since the 1950s, the United States hasn’t kept comprehensive records of its own citizens’ emigration, so accurate figures have to be pieced together from dozens of countries.
Experts note that while previously it was primarily retirees and the very wealthy who emigrated overseas, now it’s members of the middle class—freelancers, remote workers, families with children, and young professionals—who are emigrating. The main reasons are:
lower cost of living and real estate,
better quality of life (healthcare, safety, and the environment),
a less tense social and political climate.
The most popular destinations include Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, Panama, and several countries in Southeast Asia.
The overall US immigration balance in 2025 was negative for the first time since the Great Depression (the last such event was recorded in 1935). Back then, many Americans left to find work in the USSR and other countries. Now, amid the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies (deportations, visa restrictions, record-low southern border crossings), overall migrant arrivals have fallen to 2.6–2.7 million, down from a peak of nearly 6 million in 2023.
At the same time, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security are interpreting the negative immigration balance as a success: according to their data, approximately 3 million undocumented immigrants left the country in 2025 (including 675,000 official deportations and 2.2 million self-deportations).
Demographers warn that if this trend continues, the US could face accelerated population aging and a labor shortage in the coming years, especially given the continuing decline in the birth rate.