Blog/April 7, 2026
Best Countries to Move to in 2025: The Complete Expat Ranking
By Anna Moore
Definitive ranking of the best countries for expats in 2025. Comparing visas, costs, taxes, safety, climate, healthcare, and path to citizenship for 20+ destinations.
InterNations Expat Insider 2026 surveyed roughly 7,800–8,000 expats from 162 nationalities across 31 destinations (fieldwork 1 February–31 March 2026). It is a satisfaction and settling survey — not a visa-difficulty index — which is exactly why it is useful as a lived-experience ranking and dangerous if you treat it as a sole relocation algorithm.
Top 10 destinations (Expat Insider 2026)
| Rank | Country | Standout strengths | Who it often fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama | 3rd consecutive #1; #1 Working Abroad & Personal Finance; #2 Ease of Settling In & Expat Essentials; 90% say disposable income covers a comfortable life; 87% satisfied abroad (vs 70% global avg) | Remote / finance-focused movers wanting ease |
| 2 | Mexico | #1 Ease of Settling In; local friendliness | People prioritising social warmth and access |
| 3 | Thailand | Lifestyle + cost balance in the survey mix | Nomads and retirees testing Asia hubs |
| 4 | UAE | Comfort, opportunity, infrastructure | High-income professionals |
| 5 | Brazil | Settling and lifestyle scores | Expats open to LatAm culture and cities |
| 6 | Spain | Quality-of-life leader (climate/lifestyle) | Families and lifestyle-first movers |
| 7 | Singapore | Efficiency and expat infrastructure | Career movers who accept high costs |
| 8 | Portugal | Soft landing + lifestyle | Remote workers and soft-landing EU seekers |
| 9 | Malaysia | Cost and expat services | Families and long-stay Asia planners |
| 10 | Luxembourg | Order, services, finance hub | EU professionals chasing stability |
Panama’s three-year streak is the headline: money stretch and work-abroad scores, not Instagram beaches alone.
Where the ranking hurts: the bottom of the table
Norway finished 31st of 31. Only 46% of expats there report life satisfaction (vs 70% globally); 72% say making local friends is hard (vs 40% average); just 25% are happy with their social life (vs 54%). Germany landed around 30th, dragged especially by Ease of Settling In. Also in the lower band: Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Canada (27th). High public-service quality does not automatically equal easy social entry — the survey keeps proving that point.
Quality of Life Index note
On InterNations’ separate Quality of Life lens, Spain leads. UAE and Qatar score strongly on comfort and safety; Austria and Luxembourg on order and public services. China sits surprisingly around 6th, powered by transport (metro depth in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou and high-speed rail).
Methodology caveat (who is missing)
Popular expat magnets such as Georgia do not appear when a country lacks enough survey respondents for a stable ranking — even if visa-free stays, low taxes, and moderate living costs attract remote workers in practice. Absence from the Top 31 is not a verdict; it is a sample-size limit. Use Expat Insider for soft factors (friends, finance feel, settling), then overlay hard constraints: visa eligibility, tax residence, school seats, and healthcare enrolment.
Read the ranking as a conversation starter among people already abroad — then stress-test your passport and income against the destinations that scored well for your priority column, not someone else’s.
How to use the ranking without cargo-culting Panama: match the column you care about. If disposable income comfort is your bottleneck, Panama’s Personal Finance leadership and the 90% comfort statistic are relevant. If climate and daily lifestyle dominate, Spain’s Quality of Life lead may outweigh a lower overall rank. If you need soft landing and local friendliness first, Mexico’s Ease of Settling In #1 is the signal.
Career movers should still overlay visa sponsorship reality — survey happiness among people who already hold status says nothing about whether your passport can enter that status. Combine Expat Insider soft scores with hard immigration filters, then shortlist three countries and visit before you resign.
Remember the fieldwork window (Feb–Mar 2026) when you read year-labelled blogs. Macro shocks after spring 2026 — housing rules, tax reforms, visa fee changes — will not appear in this wave. Re-check immigration and tax pages for your shortlist the week you apply, even if the soft ranking still looks right.
Document decisions as you go: which visa category you chose and why, which temporary address you booked, which school waitlists you joined. Future-you will need that trail when a consulate, landlord, or insurer asks for a timeline. Relocation amnesia is real after the adrenaline fades — write the rationale while it is fresh, in the same folder as your scans.
Related guides
Continue with these closely related guides:
- Portugal vs Spain vs Georgia: Which Country Should You Move to in 2025? — Overlapping theme (citizenship).
- Best Countries for Freelancers in 2026: Low Taxes, Easy Visas, Good Internet — Overlapping theme (taxes).
- Best Countries with Low Taxes for Expats in 2026 — Overlapping theme (taxes).
- Best VPNs for Expats in 2026: Stay Secure and Access Home Content Abroad — Overlapping theme (healthcare).
Start your personalized relocation plan today at Relova.