The Best & Worst Countries for Living Abroad

InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with more than 5.7 million members, has published the latest results of its annual Expat Insider survey. Expat Insider is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad and has been conducted since 2014. This year, with more than 10,000 respondents representing 172 nationalities, it provides insights into expat life in 46 countries around the world. The results are published in the form of an overall ranking of popular expat destinations, with additional information on five topical indices: Working Abroad, Personal Finance, Quality of Life, Expat Essentials, and Ease of Settling In.

Trends in the Top 10

1. Panama
2. Colombia
3. Mexico
4. Thailand
5. Vietnam
6. China
7. UAE
8. Indonesia
9. Spain
10. Malaysia

Compared to last year, China (6th) and Malaysia (10th) are the only new arrivals in
the top 10 in 2025. Together with Thailand (4th), Vietnam (5th), and Indonesia (8th),
this means Asian countries dominate half of the list.

One thing that unites expats in these five countries is their satisfaction with Personal
Finance, with all of them ranking in the top 10 of the index (from Vietnam’s 1st place
to Malaysia’s 9th). Another highlight in these destinations is housing: expats find it
both affordable and easy to find. In fact, China’s 11th place in the Housing
Subcategory is the “worst” result here. What varies the most, however, is the Quality
of Life Index, from China’s 6th place to Indonesia’s 40th. But one thing’s for sure,
expats won’t run out of culinary and dining options, as all five countries rank in the
top 10 for this factor.

Overall, expats living in these countries rank their happiness in the top 10, with the
exception of Malaysia (15th).

The top three positions are occupied by the Latin American countries Panama (1st),
Colombia (2nd), and Mexico (3rd). Their commonality is a friendly and welcoming
culture, with no shortage of a social life as indicated by a stellar Ease of Settling In
Index: all its underlying subcategories and factors rank in the top 5; only Panama’s
Local Friendliness sees 6th place. They’re also hotspots for retirees, with a high share
of expats (25% or more vs. a global 11%) saying they’re already retired.
The UAE (7th) and Spain (9th) are geographically the odd ones out. Although they
occupy the top two positions in the Quality of Life Index, they begin to diverge when
it comes to Expat Essentials (UAE 1st, Spain 23rd) and Working Abroad (5th, 27th). It’s
not all smooth sailing for the UAE as expats are unsatisfied with their disposable
household income (38th vs. Spain’s 18th) and rank their happiness with their life
abroad (17th) lower than expats in Spain (4th).

Trends in the Bottom 10

37. Italy
38. Sweden
39. Norway
40. Canada
41. United Kingdom
42. Germany
43. Finland
44. South Korea
45. Türkiye
46. Kuwait

Similar to the top 10, there are only two new additions to the bottom 10 this year:
Sweden slips a few spots to 38th place, while South Korea takes a major tumble of
21 places to rank 44th.

More than half of the bottom 10 is occupied by European countries: Italy (37th),
Sweden (38th), Norway (39th), United Kingdom (41st), Germany (42nd), and
Finland (43rd). Right off the bat, expats rank these countries in the bottom 10 when
it comes to their happiness with their lives abroad — except for Italy, which is in a
mediocre 26th place.

Reasons for their unhappiness vary. For instance, while the three Nordic countries
offer a great Environment & Climate (top 10 ranking), expats struggle with the Ease
of Settling In (bottom 10). In the Expat Essentials Index, expats in Italy and Germany
have a difficult time with Digital Life (Italy 40th, Germany 46th) and Admin Topics
(46th, 42nd) in particular. Meanwhile, this index is the United Kingdom’s best
performing one (24th). But expats there struggle with their Personal Finance (45th)
as well as housing (41st) and medical (44th) costs.

South Korea (44th), Türkiye (45th), and Kuwait (46th) make up the bottom 3.
Expats are in particular agreement that working in these countries is tough, with all
three ranking in the bottom 10 of the Working Abroad Index (as well as the bottom
3 spots for Work Culture & Satisfaction).

Last but not least, Canada (40th) features in the bottom 10 for the second year in a
row. One major gripe of expats there? Finances. Whether it’s costs of public
transportation (38th), housing (40th), or living (44th), settling in Canada is expensive.

For more rankings and detailed insights into a country’s performance across the
different areas of our survey, go to https://www.internations.org/expat-insider

View your copy of the Summer 2025 issue of Think Global People magazine here.