Why do American expats want to ditch their U.S. citizenship? 49% say they are ready to make the switch

The Greenback Expat Trends surveyed over 1000 Americans (including 719 US expats), questioning them about citizenship, taxes, and life abroad, and surprisingly enough, they found close to half of American expats are eager to give up their citizenship. But why? Well, that's something we have decoded in this article!

The alarming report claims that 49% of Americans living in other countries are seriously considering renouncing their citizenship. Now, that's huge; in fact, the 2025 report revealed a significant increase since last year, when only 30% felt that way. When the team delved further, they understood that the major reason for this shift in people's mindset is primarily because of "politics." Yes, that's right! More than 50% of those wanting to give up their citizenship confessed they're unhappy with the current US government and the way it's dealing with issues at hand. Notably, 63% of expats said the outcome of the 2024 elections further strengthened their decision to stay abroad. Not only that, but 3 in 5 Americans living abroad said they don't feel fairly represented by the US government.

Besides, it was observed that Millennials (60%) and Gen X (54%) were the ones most vocal about relinquishing citizenship. In contrast to this, only the survey realized that only 29% of Gen Z and baby boomers living abroad felt the same. Apart from politics, location also mattered. For example, the team noticed that Americans living in India (93%) were most interested in leaving their US citizenship. Following India were the United Kingdom (53%), France (48%), Australia (47%), Canada (30%), and Germany (27%). Now, another major reason behind Americans wanting to surrender their nationality was filing taxes while living abroad.

The report said that over 1 in 4 expats said they struggle with filing their taxes correctly, especially because they have to deal with taxes in both America and the country they live in. As a matter of fact, the survey found that for 67% of expats, managing both American and foreign tax obligations is their biggest challenge. On the other hand, 51% also came forward saying U.S. tax laws are just too complicated. As the trend of growing interest in leaving America and settling outside continues to grow, the team of Greenback then decided to survey the general US population to analyze what they think about the whole concept.

When they questioned the public, they found 35% were already thinking about moving overseas; in fact, 16% confessed they would do so within the next year. Again, why? Their biggest driving forces included financial hardship in America, desire to travel abroad, safety and quality of life, and, in general, lifestyle upgrades. Some people (34%) justified their desire to leave America by citing healthcare access. Moreover, 1 in 10 US expats stated that inflation was the major reason why they left America. However, despite leaving their own country, 63% of them travel back at least once a year in order to stay connected to their roots. But was it easy to start from scratch and build a community abroad? For most, local friends or colleagues helped them bridge the gap.