More than 5 million Brazilians live abroad, according to the latest data made available by the Brazilian government.
A survey carried out by Itamaraty, referring to last year, shows that 5.29 million Brazilian citizens are registered in consulates abroad - more than 2 million in the United States alone. However, the number could be much higher, as consular registration is not mandatory.
There is no data recorded by the government on the number of Brazilians who returned to the country after living abroad, but the tightening of immigration policies in the USA and several European countries has brought many back to our country.
And this return after years of living abroad is not always easy, often causing something that is described as reverse culture shock, a feeling of estrangement in relation to one's own country.
g1 heard reports from Brazilians who told what they felt when returning to Brazil after many years living abroad.
Luciana de Lima Marçal, 50 years old, who lived abroad from May 2017 until June 2026, left Brazil in search of more security for her children, who were 4 and 9 years old. First he went to Lisbon, in Portugal, and, in 2021, he moved to Florida, in the USA.
Having been back in São Paulo for three months, she says she was scared by the high prices she found upon returning and says she still hasn't adapted, for example, to the city's chaotic traffic:
"Returning to Brazil was a lot of thought. After so many years away, we felt it was time to return and be close to our roots and our family again. (...) What scared me most upon returning, without a doubt, was the cost of living. I was very surprised by the price of things in Brazil. And another shock was the traffic, the feeling of lack of respect and education. I still haven't been able to drive again. (...) I knew it would be a readaptation. What I didn't imagine was how much some everyday situations would impact me after so many years living abroad."
Lucas Turano, who is a BNDES employee and is on leave from the bank to spend a period of time specializing in courses abroad, lived with his wife for 1 and a half years in Seville and, after three months in Brazil, decided to return to Europe for another year in Malta.
"The return to Brazil was quite strange, to be honest. It was a mix of feelings because we no longer felt Brazil as home. A lot had changed, from physical spaces to friendships and family relationships. I still want to go back to live in my country, but not yet. The feeling of belonging was one of the most challenging things and we took that to therapy", he says.
Maria Julia Moreira, 22 years old, goes to college in Spain.
Maria Julia Moreira, a Pernambuco native from Recife who has been studying at university in Spain for 2 years, continues to visit her family during the holidays, but even so, she realizes that she no longer feels so comfortable in her own country, especially in relation to security:
"Here I walk down the street alone, even in the early hours of the morning, with my cell phone in my hand and calm. When I come back, it doesn't matter that I live in the best neighborhood in my city and if it's daytime, I'm scared. It's always been like that, but it's an impact when you get used to it again."
Influencer Lucas Estevam, who has visited more than 95 countries and also lived abroad - in Germany for 1 year and 3 months, in Canada for 1 year, and in Buenos Aires for 3 months - says that this "shock" upon returning is more common than you might think, but highlights that every place has its problems.
"You spend months living at a different pace, accustomed to a different dynamic. Then, when you step back into Brazil, it feels like someone put a new lens in your eye. It gives you that crazy feeling that you're almost like a foreigner in your own land. Because Brazil remained in exactly the same place, but your head expanded five times in size. (...) At the same time, I can assure you: everywhere has ugly troubles, heavy bureaucracy and loneliness," he says.
