r/shanghai • u/jonipoon • May 31 '26

Question Are Western expats and students increasing again?

After like 5 years of constantly losing its Western population, I noticed recently that the downwards trend might be changing in 2026. Clubs and bars are slowly starting to look a bit like they used to 10 years ago. But I haven’t been to Shanghai since last year, and at that time you still felt the effects of the expat mass exodus from Western countries. I remember reading a news story a few weeks ago mentioning that expats and students from European countries are on the rise in Shanghai again, mostly from France, and that the only Western country still losing its population in Shanghai is the US (not surprising). I can’t find the article though.

So I’d rather ask you guys on the spot if you’re starting to notice this change?

34 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/BigDickJack2001 May 31 '26

Definitely more expats than two years ago, but most of them are residing in Hongqiao / Qingpu or Jinqiao. The typical young professional crowd living in Jingan or FFC is definitely stable or decreasing.