Ask ten people why they moved abroad and you’ll probably get ten different answers. Some wanted sunshine, some wanted cheaper rent, and some just wanted a calmer week. The most useful measure of quality of life may be how people feel about their daily routines once the novelty has worn off.
That’s the angle of InterNations’ Expat Insider survey. The 2026 edition drew close to 8,000 respondents and covers expat life in 31 countries.[1] Its rankings capture how expats feel about their lives, not statistics like crime rates or tax policy.[2] The list below follows the 2026 top ten, then adds two countries that did very well in the 2025 edition.
Panama: The Steady All Rounder
Panama placed first out of 31 destinations in 2026, the third year in a row it has topped the overall ranking.[1] It leads the Working Abroad and Personal Finance indices and ranks second for both Ease of Settling In and Expat Essentials.[3] On the narrower Quality of Life Index it comes in sixth.[2]
Money goes a long way there. Nine in ten expats say their disposable income is enough to live comfortably.[2] Housing is easy to find, according to nine in ten, and no respondent disagrees.[1] More than a third of respondents are already retired, so the country’s calm reputation has a real base of residents behind it.[4]
Mexico: Where Settling In Feels Easiest
Mexico ranks second overall and takes first place in the Ease of Settling In Index, with Local Friendliness, Finding Friends, and Culture and Welcome all ranked first.[1] Roughly seven in ten expats say making local friends is easy, compared with fewer than four in ten globally.[1] That social ease is probably what keeps people there. Around 38 percent plan to live in Mexico permanently.[4]
Work and money look decent too. About 69 percent of expats feel they’re paid fairly, against 58 percent worldwide.[1] The weak spots are well known. Concerns about safety and environmental quality are what keep Mexico from the top spot.[2] One third party breakdown of the survey data puts it 16th of 31 on the Quality of Life Index.[5]
Thailand: Home to the Happiest Expats
Thailand ranked third overall, and as many as 86 percent of expats there say they’re happy, with 42 percent wanting to stay forever.[6] It tops the happiness ranking outright.[3] That’s a strong result given how many countries expats could choose from.
Part of the appeal is the people. Only Thailand gets a better result than Panama for the general friendliness of local residents.[1] The picture changes when you look at the formal quality of life measure. Thailand ranks second on personal finance but 21st on the Quality of Life Index, according to one breakdown of the 2026 data.[5] Happiness and quality of life overlap, but they aren’t the same thing.
United Arab Emirates: The Gulf’s Standout
The UAE ranks fourth in the 2026 top ten, up from seventh a year earlier.[1] In 2025 it and Spain were the geographic odd ones out in a top ten dominated by Latin American and Asian countries.[7] It remains the one Middle Eastern country in this year’s top ten.
One detail deserves a mention. The 2026 list marks the UAE with an asterisk, next to a note that the survey ran from 1 February to 31 March 2026.[3] Read the placing with that timing in mind. The wider Gulf did well in the previous edition too: Oman ranked 11th and Saudi Arabia 12th in 2025.[8]
Brazil: A Big Jump Back Up
Brazil ranks fifth in 2026.[1] That follows a dip, since it placed 15th in 2025[8] and seventh in 2024[9]. Treat year to year swings with some caution, because the 2025 report ranked 46 countries, down from 53 in 2024[8], and the 2026 field shrank again to 31.
Where Brazil shines is mood. Thailand, Panama, Mexico, and Brazil top the 2026 happiness ranking, with Brazil in fifth place.[3] For someone choosing a country mostly on how daily life feels, that’s a useful sign.
Spain: The Quality of Life Champion
Spain ranked first out of 31 countries in the 2026 Quality of Life Index, extending a run at the top that stretches back five years.[10] Expats credit the weather, things to do outside work, affordable public transport, and the chance to travel.[6] Overall it ranks sixth and is the best place for expats on the European continent.[6]
Plenty of people move for exactly this. One in five expats surveyed in Spain said a better quality of life was their main reason for moving, more than double the global average of 9 percent.[10] About four in ten would ideally stay forever, compared with 27 percent worldwide.[10] The trade off is work: lifestyle favorites such as Spain scored poorly on the local job market and pay in the 2025 survey.[11]
Singapore: High Polish, Harder Landing
Singapore ranks seventh overall in the 2026 survey.[1] It wasn’t part of the 2025 top ten, so its place this year stands out. It’s also a reminder that a wealthy, orderly city state can still be a challenging place to arrive in.
One independent breakdown of the survey data, from WorldRankd, makes that point sharply. It argues that a glittering quality of life doesn’t offset weak finances and a hard landing, which drops Singapore to last among its eight featured countries.[5] That’s one outlet’s composite, not InterNations’ own view. It still helps explain why the reputation and the lived experience don’t always match.
Portugal: Safe, Mild, and Close to the Sea
Portugal sits eighth in the 2026 top ten.[1] On quality of life specifically, it placed 10th out of 46 destinations in the 2025 index, while the United Kingdom ranked 38th.[12] The ranking leans on five areas, including safety and security, healthcare, leisure options, travel and transit, and environment and climate.[12]
Portugal performed especially well for environment and climate and for safety and security.[12] Expats there often value the natural environment, air quality, relaxed lifestyle, and access to the sea.[12] It’s a quieter kind of appeal than the party towns of southern Spain, and many people prefer that.
Malaysia: Consistent in the Top Ten
Malaysia ranks ninth in 2026[1], and it was tenth in 2025[7]. Two top ten finishes in a row suggest the result isn’t a fluke. The 2026 report notes that expats in Latin America and Southeast Asia are simply happier.[3]
Malaysia’s strength has been visible for years. In 2021 it came fourth out of 59 countries and second in the Ease of Settling In Index, where 77 percent of expats said settling in was easy.[13] That’s older data, so take it as a sign of consistency rather than a current score. Still, it fits the pattern.
Luxembourg: Europe’s Small Climber
Luxembourg closes out the 2026 top ten at number ten.[1] A year earlier it sat 18th.[8] That’s a notable climb in a ranking where European countries have found it hard to break through.
Only three European countries made the top ten in 2026, and none ranked among the five best.[6] Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg are the three.[6] The bottom of the table is just as telling: Norway ranks 31st, with Germany, Türkiye, the UK, and Canada also among the worst destinations.[3]
Colombia: A 2025 Favorite on the Rise
Colombia climbed from fifth place in 2024 to second in 2025.[14] It isn’t in the 2026 top ten, so the figures here come from the earlier edition. It also scored highly on quality of life, with more than nine in ten respondents saying their disposable household income was enough to live comfortably.[14]
The welcome matters here. InterNations noted that Panama, Colombia, and Mexico share a friendly, welcoming culture and a strong Ease of Settling In result, with nearly all subcategories in the top five.[7] Those social factors tend to shape quality of life as much as healthcare or transport.
Vietnam: Where Money Stretches Furthest
Vietnam ranked fifth overall in the 2025 edition.[7] It sat at the top of that year’s Personal Finance Index.[15] In 2026 Panama took that top spot, ending Vietnam’s four year run at number one.[16]
The finance index asks expats to rate the general cost of living, their satisfaction with their financial situation, and whether their disposable income is enough for a comfortable life.[16] Money isn’t everything, but it shapes the rest. InterNations notes that nearly every country in the top 15 for personal finance is also among the happiest overall.[15]
