The ranking, which includes 59 countries, took into consideration many factors, such as quality of life, ease of settling in, personal finance and working abroad.

In these indicators, Portugal is ranked in the top 10 in three of them: quality of life (3rd out of 59 countries in this index), ease of accommodation (9th) and cost of living (9th). In the Personal Finance Index it also has a good result (14th), while working abroad is the weakest performing indicator (36th).

The majority of expats, (three out of four) are satisfied with the health care system, which they considered to be affordable and evaluate the quality of medical care positively. On the other hand, more than half of expats (51 percent) say they are not happy with local career opportunities.

Furthermore, “although 61 percent of expats around the world feel secure on their jobs, only 52 percent in Portugal have the same point of view”, highlights the study. And nearly a third of expats aren’t happy with the state of the local economy.

However, the high quality of life seems to be one of the main reasons to consider Portugal when people are looking for a country to spend their life abroad.

In addition, Portugal is ranking 3rd in the Personal Happiness subcategory, which makes Portugal home to some of the happiest expats worldwide. 84 percent are happy with their life in general, they enjoy the high quality of life.

Expats in Portugal particularly appreciate the local leisure options (87 vs 72 globally) and the sunny climate and weather (90 vs 66 percent globally). Nearly four out of five are also happy with their own socialising and leisure activities in Portugal. Also, 96 percent describe the country as safe and peaceful.

During a year of uncertainty, more than half the respondents said that the pandemic has not directly affected their relocation plans or current stay abroad. All in all, for those who changed their minds, wanting to be closer to friends and family was the main reason for returning home early.

Regarding Portugal, InterNations said that the pandemic “affected the relocation plans of about two in five expats in the country (37 percent), which is exactly the same proportion as the global average”. Only 1 percent of expats will return home earlier than planned, and many intend to stay longer: “more than a quarter (27 percent) had decided to stay in Portugal and not return home in the near future”.

Additionally, InterNations has also compiled a list of places where expats are most well informed with an official communication regarding the pandemic, in which Portugal is ranked 16th.

A total of 12,420 expats from 174 nationalities and living in 186 countries or territories participated in the survey.