A Short Methodology

The online questionnaire was promoted through the InterNations community as well as the company newsletter and social media profiles, but responses were not limited to InterNations members.

The target audience included all kinds of expats, from foreign assignees (i.e., employees sent on a corporate assignment abroad) and international retirees to self-made expats who looked for work abroad and others who moved for a variety of reasons. A total of 10,085 expats participated in the survey, representing 172 nationalities living in countries or territories worldwide.

For a country to be listed in any of the indices and in the overall ranking, a sample size of at least 50 survey participants per destination is required. In 2025, 46 destinations met this requirement.

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.

Survey participants were asked to rate up to 53 factors related to expat life on a scale of one to seven. The survey emphasized personal satisfaction with these factors and considers both factual (e.g., housing costs) and emotional (e.g., feeling at home) aspects with equal weight.

The individual factor ratings were grouped into 16 subcategories, which were then used to draw up the five topical indices mentioned above. These five indices, plus responses to the question “All things considered, how happy are you with your life abroad in general?”, were averaged to arrive at the overall country ranking.

Please keep in mind:

The ratings compare the survey participants’ individual satisfaction with various factors, instead of looking at related facts from external sources. For example, “personal safety” is a measure of how safe expats feel in their respective destination, not actual crime rate statistics.

The indices don’t cover every potential aspect of living abroad (e.g., international schools/education) nor are the results meant to be an endorsement of any specific destination. It’s rather a comparison of how expats rate their everyday life abroad based on subjective scores.

All percentages have been rounded to full integral numbers. In some cases, this may lead to responses to one question adding up to 99% or 101%. These instances are simply due to rounding and aren’t based on erroneous data.

Further Reading

• The Best & Worst Countries for Expats in 2025
• The Biggest Winners & Loser in 2025
• Where Expats Can Find the Best Quality of Life (& Where Not)
• Where to Go (or Avoid) for a Lively Social Circle
• Top Prospects, Good Hours & More: Countries for Your Career
• The Best (& Worst) Places for Your Finances in 2025
• Where It’s (Not So) Easy to Manage the Basics of Life Abroad