Expats living in Europe rank among the least satisfied in the world, according to InterNations' 2025 Expat Insider index, which placed only one European country in its top 10 and found six European nations among the bottom 10.
The annual ranking, which assessed 46 destinations for quality of life, ease of settling in and other factors, put Spain ninth overall and as the only European nation to reach the top 10. Panama, Colombia and Mexico occupied the top three positions, followed by Thailand, Vietnam, China, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. At the opposite end of the scale, Italy, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland were all in the bottom 10.
InterNations said long-standing European expat destinations such as Italy, France, Germany and Malta have slipped in recent years. The survey flagged differing reasons for low scores across the continent: Nordic countries including Sweden, Norway and Finland scored highly on environment and climate but low on the ease of settling in, while respondents in Italy and Germany cited problems with digital services and administration.
Expats in the United Kingdom reported particular strain over personal finances, housing and medical costs, contributing to the UK's placement at 41st out of 46. The ranking also reflected perceptions of healthcare: more than four in five respondents in Spain agreed that the country's healthcare was affordable, readily available and of high quality, a factor InterNations said helped lift Spain into the top 10.
InterNations, a global network for people living and working abroad, produces the Expat Insider index annually to gauge expatriate satisfaction across multiple dimensions including quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad and personal finance. The 2025 results indicate a shifting pattern of expatriate satisfaction away from several traditional European destinations toward countries in Latin America and Asia.
Analysts and commentators have attributed parts of the trend to administrative and digital barriers in some European countries, as well as rising costs of living and housing pressures in major urban centres that affect newcomers. In Nordic nations, respondents praised natural surroundings and public services but reported cultural and bureaucratic obstacles that made integration more difficult.
The index's broader top 20 included Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Cyprus, Brazil, Kenya, Portugal, Luxembourg and Australia, while countries near the bottom beyond those in Europe included South Korea, Türkiye and Kuwait. InterNations did not publish a country-by-country breakdown of every survey question in the summary released with the rankings.
The 2025 Expat Insider adds to a series of recent studies that suggest global shifts in where expatriates find the best balance of cost, quality of life and ease of integration. Governments and local authorities that rely on international talent may consider the findings in planning digital services, housing policy and integration programmes aimed at attracting or retaining foreign residents.