Yusuf Hussain, after seven years in Colorado, packed up the items from his three-bedroom house in Littleton last week in search of a better life. He says he will find it in Pakistan.

The 39-year-old executive came here from Pakistan just as the U.S. tech economy was taking off in 1996. Today he is being lured back by what he can't find here: jobs, wealth and economic activity.

Many foreign nationals no longer view America as the land of opportunity. Economists, business people and other experts say growing numbers of immigrants are moving back to their home countries of Pakistan, India, China, Singapore and Vietnam --- countries with job and economic growth sometimes double or triple that of the United States.

The U.S. government hasn't kept totals on emigration for several decades. But economists and immigrants say the trend is real.

''I get calls from friends left and right saying they are packing up and going back to China,'' said Hai Yan Zhang, a Denver-based Chinese business consultant who travels to China five times a year.

''I go to China and see people's eyes sparkling,'' Zhang said. ''It's full of life and vitality there. In contrast to the U.S., where we're reaching a plateau, perhaps going down.''

Economists say the exodus could hurt the U.S. economy because America is losing some of the world's smartest and most entrepreneurial people.

And it most likely will feed a controversial trend by U.S. companies to create jobs or move existing jobs offshore in search of cheaper and faster software development, manufacturing or customer service.

''Those people will have the talent to do the work in their home country, and they have the relationships with the companies they used to deal with,'' said Rich Wobbekind, an economist with the University of Colorado. ''It's going to be easier for them to set up facilities in other countries.''

Indeed, that's what lured Hussain to return to Pakistan.

Hussain, chief executive of Denver software firm Cressoft Inc., plans to open a facility in Pakistan to provide software for U.S. companies.

Almost all countries in Southeast Asia have higher economic growth rates than the United States.

China is experiencing the fastest economic growth of any country, expanding at 8 percent a year, according to U.S. government statistics.

India ranks No. 2, growing 4.3 percent last year. India has become a prime spot for affordable customer-support call centers, software development houses and, more recently, technical support centers.