“Home sales to Americans in Europe keep growing”; “The number of Americans living in European countries is increasing”; “Americans relocating to Europe is a trend.”
Such declarations and headlines, accompanied by statistics on the numbers of recent American expats published by immigration agencies, European institutions and respectable media outlets make it easy to conclude that Europe is once again a very attractive alternative for Americans looking to relocate.
Quality of life, house prices, political stability, remote working, lower cost of living and frustration with the political situation are among the main reasons mentioned in articles and studies.
As explained by Bloomberg, “more Americans are relocating to Europe, driven across the Atlantic by the rising cost of living, inflated house prices, a surging dollar and political rancor at home.”
“Why Europe is a magnet for more Americans?” wonders The Economist in an article about the growing number of Americans “seeking to escape violence and political strife in the United States.”
According to that article and official statistics from the European Union, the number of resident permits for Americans per country over the last five years increased from about 15,500 to 24,000 in the Netherlands (6,791 granted last year); tripled to almost 10,000 in Portugal (3,275 in 2022); jumped by 13% in Spain from about 20,000 to nearly 34,000 (11,156 in 2022) and reached a total of 12,220 for last year alone in France, 9,367 in Germany and 6,599 in Italy.
“In Britain, the number of resident Americans rose from 137,000 in 2013 to 166,000 in 2021 (the latest estimate),” The Economist writes.
Eurostat data published by SchengenVisaInfo.com also include Denmark (4,689), Switzerland (4,513 ), Ireland (3,831 ) and Czech Republic (2,513 ) among the top ten of the list of countries granting the highest number of residence permits to Americans in 2022. More than 4,000 Americans moved to Denmark and Switzerland last year.
Sweden with 2,447, Belgium with 1,902, Hungary with 1,467 and Austria with 1,134 residence permits granted are also on the list.
Lithuania and Liechtenstein approved the lowest numbers, with only 54 and 27 respectively.
“Recent data by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, shows that a total of 76,221 Americans were granted residence permits by the EU/Schengen countries last year,” SchengenVisaInfo.com reports, with France, Spain, and Germany granting the highest numbers.
Those high prices
Prices — high prices, in fact — appear as an important factor in the decision to move: “Americans Head to Europe for the Good Life on the Cheap” is how the New York Times explains the renewed attraction to living abroad in the Old World.
“Americans, unable to afford the kinds of homes they want in the kinds of domestic cities where they want to live, like San Francisco and New York, are moving to Southern Europe in significant numbers,” the paper writes. “Drawn to the region by its mild climate and low cost of living, made even more affordable by a strong dollar, many Americans gush about trading a car-dependent lifestyle for the chance to live in a vibrant, European city on the cheap.”
To cost of housing The Economist adds other more prosaic factors including the increase of remote working during the pandemic that made living abroad more feasible and the tempting deals set up by European countries to lure foreigners.
“The Netherlands lets companies exempt 30% of skilled foreign workers’ income from taxes. In Portugal, a residential visa requires income of just 150% of the national minimum wage, or about €1,100 ($1,190) per month – an easy hurdle for American retirees. Foreigners can pay a 10% flat tax on “passive income," such as investments or a pension. Spain’s “Beckham law" offers a 24% flat tax for income earned in the country.”
As incentives to attract highly skilled people, more countries are also introducing “digital-nomad" visas for tech freelancers.
And those really cheap houses
Add to these incentives the numerous offers by municipalities in Spain and Italy, among others, where dwindling populations have forced their governments to come up with creative alternatives to attract new inhabitants such as houses for €1, cash to help with down payments and other enticing offers.
There are so many semi-abandoned small towns in Europe with local officials desperate for effective schemes to revitalize their populations and economies — and with plenty of empty small houses, villas and even palaces on offer — that the number of international real state agencies and house-hunters working in the “€1 real estate market” market has multiplied.
Listings, surveys, polls
There are so many listings, surveys and polls on the best countries to live and work in Europe that it can seem confusing.
Most of them, though, include the same countries based on a multitude of factors including quality of life, cost of living, health services, security, digital services, bureaucracy, housing and language.
Spain and Portugal most often appear at the top. Such is the case of the Expat Insider survey by InterNations on the current best European countries to reside in based on a survey of 12,000-plus expats.
Spain was voted this year as the best country in Europe and the second in the world for expats. Participants credited the weather, culture, nightlife, opportunities for leisure activities and sports. Although 36% are unhappy with the local job market, most expressed satisfaction with their work-life balance.
Portugal, the second European country on the list, also offers expats excellent quality of life — but poor job opportunities. The ease of settling in is one of the highlights with 80% saying they feel welcome in the country.
For quality of life, Portugal ranks 7th worldwide in this poll. Some of the country’s advantages include the climate and air quality.
More details on this poll can be found here.
The official ETIAS list
The official EU agency European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), a visa waiver program that came into effect this year for visitors traveling to any of the Schengen countries, compiled its own list of Best European Countries for Expats.
The list “shows you which European countries are suitable for expatriates and what benefits you can obtain in each one of them. It also covers the downsides of each country for you to make informed decisions before relocating to a European country.”
It starts with Portugal at the top for its “Rich History, Sunshine, and Enjoyable Social Life,” Spain in #2 for its “Quality of Life,” then Germany for “High Standard of Life, Modern & Diverse Country With Stable Economy,” Norway for being “A Safe, Modern-Welfare State With Stunning Landscapes” and Croatia for its “Hospitality, Mediterranean Climate, and Affordable Cost of Living.”
Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, France and Estonia follow in that order.
Find more information here about each of the countries on this list and about visas and other requirements here.
I'm a dual Colombian-Luxembourgish freelance journalist, inveterate traveler and
writer based in the world's only Grand Duchy. I write a column on
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