The United States is seeing more and more citizens leave, and with other countries offering incentives to live and work there – it might only be the beginning.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which is based on the Brookings Institution data, revealed a gap of 150,000 people migrating to the US after seeing between 2.6 and 2.7 million in the previous year.
But with the report explaining that there are anywhere between four and nine million Americans living abroad in places like Mexico (1.6 million), Europe (1.5 million), the UK (335,000), and Canada (250,000), it’s becoming more apparent that people are choosing to start fresh elsewhere.
While the report didn’t find one reason, it did say that the cost of living could be a contributing factor, with several countries across the world willing to pay people to live there.
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Chile
Chile’s Start-Up Chile incentive could see people from the US able to be paid thousands of dollars to start and maintain a local business, allowing you to live in the area and work.
While the website doesn’t specify how much you’ll be paid, it does say people will ‘receive free funding, free co-working space, and exclusive discounts on different services that will help you grow your startup’.
According to IEA, it could be anywhere up to $300,000.
Croatia
Croatia is a lovely place, with cheap living and rural lands, but it’s also home to houses that cost less than a dollar in 2024.
Legrad, in its Northern region, faced dwindling numbers of people after the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, leading to the government to think about ways to increase its population.
This led them to their incentive program, which could see anyone under the age of 45, married or in a partnership, and without a criminal record, eligible to buy a cheap home in the area.
Greece
Think of the food, sun, and atmosphere in Antikythera, and tell me it’s not somewhere you could see yourself living it up.
This island with barely 50 people living on it, offers €500 per month to those who live there for three years.
Measuring at just 20 square miles, you’ll be closer than ever to your neighbors.
Ireland
You could be your very own Galway Girl if you choose to live in an off-shore Irish island via its Our Living Islands incentive.
The 2023 program refunds people the cost of renovating a vacant property on an island, which will either be rented out by yourself, or lived in by you and your family.
Applicants can apply twice to this incentive through the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
Mauritius
Get 20,000 Mauritian Rupees ($424.82) and start your own business in the sunny island!
There are a few programs you can look into, but ultimately, you’ll have to apply via the Mauritius Revenue Authority.
Italy
If you want to nab $30,000 and live in either Sardinia and Calabria, the Italian government has you covered.
With its need to repopulate rural areas that have seen its population dwindle due to citizens moving to cities, all you need to do is agree to live in one of nine small villages with a population of 2,000 people or fewer to get the cash and new life.
Well, there will be other criteria, but it sounds like a good plan to me.
Spain
Live in Ambroz is the perfect incentive for those who want to live on the border of Portugal in Extremadura.
There, remote workers can apply for a grant of €15,000 ($17291.77) to move there for at least two years, per Idealista.
Switzerland
If you’ve got dreams of living in the snowy mountains, then Albinen, a town in Switzerland, is offering people 25,000 Swiss francs ($31,000) per adult who have a family of four, or 10,000 Swiss francs per child to come and move there.
At 1,300 meters above the sea, the 2028 scheme was created to bring more people there after many moved to busier areas.
If you want to move, you’ll have to buy a home worth 200,000 Swiss francs and also live there for a decade.
Interested?
Topics: Japan, Spain, World News, US News
Britt Jones