How many Americans moved to Europe in 2025?

91,615 US citizens received a first residence permit in one of the 27 EU countries in 2025, according to Eurostat (data updated on 22 October 2026). That is 11,191 more than in 2024 (80,424), a change of +13.9%. The most went to Spain (15,810), France (15,388) and Germany (10,188). Another 6,258 received one in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. Outside the EU and EFTA, in 2025, 7,510 US citizens became permanent residents of Canada (IRCC), and the UK granted US citizens 31,687 work, study and family visas (Home Office).

First residence permits in the EUUS citizens · 2025

27 EU countries · US citizens · 2025: 91,615 first residence permits

80,424in 2024

+13.9%change on 2024

6,258Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland (+8.0%)

21European countries with 500+ permits

By reason: education 32,586 (35.6%), family 23,177 (25.3%), work 18,876 (20.6%), other reasons 16,976 (18.5%).

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

What this number is, and what it is not

It is the number of US citizens who received a residence permit in an EU country for the first time in 2025: a permit valid for at least 3 months, for family, education, work or other reasons. A permit also counts as "first" when the person had none for the same reason in the 6 months before.
It is not a count of moves: some people who receive a permit never move, or leave soon after, and someone who received permits in two countries is counted in both.
It leaves out Americans who also hold an EU passport (the statistics cover non-EU citizens only), stays shorter than 3 months and renewed permits.
It is not the number of Americans living in an EU country, which is much larger.

Ireland: PPS numbers by month

Ireland also publishes a monthly count by nationality: 4,016 PPS numbers allocated to US citizens from January to September 2026, 5,610 in 2025 (Department of Social Protection, data to September 2026). A PPS number is not a count of arrivals.

How many Americans moved to Ireland: PPS numbers month by month

Source: Department of Social Protection (Ireland), Annual Allocations: PPS Numbers (gov.ie, page updated on 21 October 2026): PPSN registrations by year, month and country and by year and country (CSV, downloaded on 30 October 2026), data to September 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (data.gov.ie).

How many Americans moved to each EU country in 2025

First residence permits issued to US citizens, by EU country, from the most. Tap a column heading to sort. Countries with at least 500 permits in 2025 have their own page.

First residence permits issued to US citizens by EU country, 2025 and 2024, with reasons for 2025

Spain	15,810	15,638	+1.1%	5,248	4,979	2,273	3,310
France	15,388	13,122	+17.3%	1,611	7,303	2,250	4,224
Germany	10,188	8,507	+19.8%	3,272	2,781	3,588	547
Denmark	8,712	5,183	+68.1%	622	7,101	871	118
Netherlands	7,339	6,732	+9.0%	2,556	2,111	2,294	378
Italy	6,858	5,049	+35.8%	2,692	1,195	2,084	887
Portugal	4,448^b	4,345	+2.4%	1,215	68	565^b	2,600
Ireland	3,644^u	4,773	−23.7%	477^u	1,701^u	760^u	706^u
Czechia	3,478	2,901	+19.9%	379	2,164	340	595
Sweden	2,931	2,746	+6.7%	1,044	1,188	508	191
Belgium	2,217	1,946	+13.9%	773	364	809	271
Hungary	1,839	1,830	+0.5%	299	493	485	562
Austria	1,378	1,250	+10.2%	547	296	479	56
Poland	1,344	1,220	+10.2%	333	228	390	393
Finland	1,072	868	+23.5%	438	230	310	94
Greece	1,045	895	+16.8%	482	85	177	301
Romania	740	708	+4.5%	251	35	28	426
Slovakia	540	304	+77.6%	125	9	107	299
Malta	527	469	+12.4%	71	55	45	356
Luxembourg	424	505	−16.0%	146	26	103	149
Cyprus	372	257	+44.7%	93	42	64	173
Croatia	354	308	+14.9%	152	18	113	71
Bulgaria	266	270	−1.5%	118	14	54	80
Lithuania	228	176	+29.5%	74	32	43	79
Slovenia	208	136	+52.9%	59	25	76	48
Latvia	151	162	−6.8%	57	13	23	58
Estonia	114	124	−8.1%	43	30	37	4
EU-27 total	91,615	80,424	+13.9%	23,177	32,586	18,876	16,976

b = Eurostat marks a break in the time series in 2025 for Portugal: the change from 2024 may partly reflect a change in how permits are counted. u = Eurostat marks the 2025 figures for Ireland as having low reliability.

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

First residence permits issued to US citizens by EFTA countries, 2025 and 2024
Country	2025	2024	Change	Family	Education	Work	Other
Switzerland	4,583	4,351	+5.3%	1,214	1,561	1,731	77
Norway	1,303	1,083	+20.3%	493	378	379	53
Iceland	352	333	+5.7%	97	133	122	0
Liechtenstein	20	29	−31.0%	14	1	5	0

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. These four countries are not in the EU total. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

Americans moving to the EU, year by year (2019–2025)

First residence permits issued to US citizens in the 27 EU countries by year and reason
Year	All reasons	Family	Education	Work	Other	Valid 12+ months
2019	75,765	18,436	27,539	20,138	9,652	–
2020	45,168	13,978	13,246	12,190	5,754	–
2021	64,426	18,271	20,197	16,652	9,306	43,180
2022	75,044	18,225	26,818	18,120	11,881	44,858
2023	78,911	18,348	29,366	18,415	12,782	46,889
2024	80,424	18,700	30,944	16,617	14,163	47,097
2025	91,615	23,177	32,586	18,876	16,976	54,642

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. EU-27 = the 27 current EU countries in every year. Eurostat revises past years when countries correct their data. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

Canada and United Kingdom

Canada and the UK publish different figures, so they are not added to the European total: Canada counts new permanent residents by citizenship; the UK counts work, study and family visas granted.

Canada7,510 new permanent residents in 2025
−19.5% on 2024 · IRCC United Kingdom31,687 work, study and family visas granted in 2025
+7.6% on 2024 · Home Office

Questions people ask

How many Americans moved to Europe in 2025?

91,615 US citizens received a first residence permit in an EU country in 2025 (Eurostat). That is 11,191 more than in 2024 (80,424), a change of +13.9%. Another 6,258 received one in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

Which European country do most Americans move to?

In 2025 the EU countries that issued the most first permits to US citizens were Spain (15,810), France (15,388) and Germany (10,188).

How many Americans moved to Spain in 2025?

15,810 US citizens received a first residence permit in Spain in 2025. Details by reason and year.

How many Americans moved to France in 2025?

15,388 US citizens received a first residence permit in France in 2025. Details by reason and year.

How many Americans moved to Canada in 2025?

7,510 US citizens became permanent residents of Canada in 2025 (IRCC). Year by year.

How many Americans moved to the UK in 2025?

The UK granted 31,687 work, study and family visas to US citizens in 2025 (Home Office). By type and year.

How many Americans moved to Ireland in 2026?

Ireland allocated 4,016 PPS numbers to US citizens from January to September 2026 (Department of Social Protection); PPS numbers allocated are not the same as people who moved. Month by month.

Is this the number of Americans living in Europe?

No. These are new permits issued in 2025. Americans who have lived in Europe for years, renewed their permits or hold an EU passport are not counted.

Other nationalities

Who moved where: all nationalities · Visa refusal rates · Visa income calculator