More Americans than ever are living and working outside of the country.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. State Department estimated that about 6.4 million Americans either are working or studying overseas, part of a long-term trend. The Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., put that figure at about 3.8 million in 1999.

“That is a substantial increase over a 12-year period,” said Madeleine Sumption, policy analyst with the institute. “Another little piece of data is the increase in the number of people born to U.S. parents overseas has increased by a third since 2000.”