Revealed: These Are The World’s 30 Most Friendliest Countries For Expats

Portugal claims the title of the most welcoming country for expats, according to the latest results of the Expat Insider survey. An overwhelming majority of 94 percent of expats currently living in Portugal said locals have a friendly and helpful attitude towards expats. Rounding out the top five spots are Taiwan, Mexico, Cambodia, and Bahrain.

Despite its people speaking primarily in Mandarin and the Hokkien dialect, Taiwan (No. 2) is a place that expats may never leave. 30% of survey respondents applaud the country and agree that they’re likely to stay forever. The survey was based on the insights of 13,000 expats from 188 countries and territories.

Only three countries that made top 20 in the survey were in Europe. Portugal, Spain, and Romania took 1st, 17th, and 19th place respectively.

On the flip side, if you are headed to countries like Kuwait, or looking to move to Austria, Switzerland or Finland, brace yourself for a frosty welcome from locals.

Where do you think the United States and the United Kingdom ranked?

This year, the annual survey has put it in 36th place, meaning it is less welcoming than countries such as Thailand (20th), Romania (19th), Malaysia (22nd), Kenya (27th) and Kazakhstan (28th).

Although about 3 in 5 expats in the United States would describe the locals as welcoming (59 percent) and outgoing (64 percent), over one third (35 percent) struggle with making local friends. Just one-fifth (20 percent) say that their friends are mostly local residents.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom came far behind the United States, in 56th place. Expats report that they find the British distant (42 percent) and reserved (58 percent) making it more difficult for them to make friends.

The world’s top 10 most friendliest countries for expats

10. Canada
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 81%
# Ease of making local friends: 43%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 45%

9. Vietnam
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 83%
# Ease of making local friends: 56%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 16%

8. Colombia
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 87%
# Ease of making local friends: 62%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 33%

7. Oman
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 86%
# Ease of making local friends: 60%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 12%

6. Costa Rica
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 87%
# Ease of making local friends: 78%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 48%

5. Bahrain
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 86%
# Ease of making local friends: 55%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 11%

4. Cambodia
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 92%
# Ease of making local friends: 59%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 23%

3. Mexico
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 87%
# Ease of making local friends: 73%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 39%

2. Taiwan
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 86%
# Ease of making local friends: 61%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 30%

1. Portugal
# Friendly attitude towards expats: 94%
# Ease of making local friends: 58%
# Expats likely to stay forever: 47%

The Top 30 Friendliest Countries In The World For Expats