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The World Expat Index

As the world becomes increasingly connected and easy to traverse, people have become more and more fascinated with the idea of uprooting and moving abroad. Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has strived to expand, explore the horizon and settle in new lands, and this spirit is still alive today as thousands of people look to move to a new country every year.

Brits are no exception to this rule, as many look to move away for a multitude of reasons. There are around 760,000 British expats currently living all over the world. But if you are an aspiring expat, where should you be looking to move to?

Here at William Russell, we’ve used our expertise in international health insurance and global income protection to dive into the data for some of the world's richest and most developed countries. We have combined a number of factors such as happiness and wellbeing, expat health, employment opportunities, and quality of life to determine which foreign nations are the most advantageous for expats. With updated data for these factors, we wanted to see what has changed over the last year.

The best countries for expats ranked

Key

Happiness score /10 Health score /10 Employment score /10 Country quality of life score /10 Total score /40
Rank
Country

Best performing countries for every category

Best performing countries for every happiness category

The happiest country

Finland

7.84/10

world happiness report

Finland is the happiest country according to the latest world happiness report rankings, as they scored 7.84/10. Despite going down by 0.05 points, Finland maintains their top spot.

The country with the most open space

Australia

3.32

people per km2

Australia has the highest amount of space for people on average, with 3.32 people per km2 down under. On average there are 207.23 people per km2 in the world, and Bahrain has the least 2,231.98 people per km2, and therefore the least amount of open space.

The country with the highest % of expats

UAE

88.13%

UAE has by far the highest percentage of expats in their population with 88.13%, this is much higher than second-placed Bahrain’s 55.01%.

Total happiness score

Australia

9.37/10

Australia takes the top spot with a total happiness score of 9.37/10. Australia has a high WHR score of 7.18/10 and ranks highest as the country with the most open space. Australia’s neighbour, New Zealand, ranks second with a total happiness score of 8.93.

Best performing countries for happiness

Key

World happiness report score /10 Amount of space (people per km2) Percentage of expats Total happiness score /10
Rank
Country

Best performing countries for every health category

Best performing countries for health

Key

Average life expectancy Number of hospitals Average people per hospital Average km2 per hospital Number of hospital beds per 1,000 people Covid 19 deaths Number of physicians per 100,000 people Total health score
Rank
Country

Best performing countries for every employment category

Unemployment Rate

Thailand

1.4%

unemployment rate

Thailand has the lowest unemployment rate, and maintains its top spot with just 1.4% of the working population not in work. On the other hand, South Africa has 33.60% unemployed, whilst the average on our list is 7.41%.

Average income per capita

Norway

$53,518

Norway maintains its place at the top, with an average income per capita of $53,518. The United States narrowly misses out by just over $200, with Denmark completing the top three.

Overall labour rights

Lithuania

96/100

Lithuania has the highest overall labour rights score with 96/100 in total. Finland has the second highest score at 93.5/100, and the global average is 78.21/100.

Overall employment score

The Netherlands & Poland

5.77/10

By taking into account a number of factors to create an overall employment score, The Netherlands and Poland came out as the joint best country for employment with a score of 5.77/10, replacing Poland which has dropped to fifth place. Meanwhile, the average score in our list of countries is 3.77/10.

Best performing countries for employment

Key

Unemployment rate Average income per capita ($) Decent working hours /100 Employment security /100 Maternity at work /100 Safe work /100 Trade union /100people Overall labour rights /100 Overall employment score
Rank
Country

Best performing countries for every quality of life category

Best performing countries for quality of life

Key

Level of crime/100 City centre apartment cost (£ per metre2) Rural apartment cost (£ per metre2) Air quality /100 Drinking water quality and accessibility /100 Garbage disposal /100 Quality of parks /100 people Gender equality /1 Total quality of life score /10
Rank
Country

The World Expat Index

Key

World happiness report score /10 Amount of space (people per km2) Percentage of expats Total happiness score Average life expectancy Number of hospitals Average people per hospital Average km2 per hospital Number of hospital beds per 1,000 people Covid 19 deaths Number of physicians per 100,000 people Total health score Unemployment rate Average income per capita ($) Decent working hours /100 Employment security /100 Maternity at work /100 Safe work /100 Trade union /100 people Overall labour rights /100 Overall employment score Level of crime/100 City centre apartment cost (£ per metre2) Rural apartment cost (£ per metre2) Air quality /100 Drinking water quality and accessibility /100 Garbage disposal /100 Quality of parks /100 people Gender equality /1 Total quality of life score /10 Total score /40

Happiness

Health

Employment

Quality of Life

Rank
Country

Methodology