Friendly citizens, local friends, and a comfortable environment. If this is what you think about when the word “relocating overseas” comes to your mind, check out the top 10 most friendly countries for expats.
Don’t go to the typical expat destinations if you want to meet friendly people –this is the main conclusion one can take after reading the latest Expat Insider Survey carried out by Internations. The truth is that among the top 10 most welcoming destinations for expats, only Canada, on the 10th position, can be considered a traditional expat hub.
Portugal, the most friendly expat destination
The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to move extremely far to find a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Portugal, just a few hours away from The Czech Republic, is actually the leader of this ranking.
A friendly, ready to help and caring people are some of the adjectives assigned by expats to the Portuguese citizens. In fact, 94% of the expats living here consider that Portuguese have a friendly attitude towards expats and the charm of Portuguese citizens seems to be as overwhelming that almost half of the survey participants are likely to stay in the country forever (47%) – if this is true or not, only the time can tell!
USA: Hard to feel the “American dream”
On the other hand, expats who want to live the “American dream” are feeling more and more struggles. Although most of the expat have a positive attitude towards the locals (59% define them as friendly and 64% as outgoing), creating long-lasting relationships with the locals is becoming harder. 35% of the expats living in the USA consider it difficult to have local friends. Due to the country’s size, this can vary considerably depending on the area of residency inside the USA. However, as indicated in the Survey, most expats find the US culture considerably different to their own one. As one Ukrainian expat living there declared: “People are really friendly on the outside, but in fact, they don’t care”. Also the 19% of the expats living in the US stated that they don’t feel at home there.
What to check out the complete list?
Find out the Ten Top friendly countries for expats:
- Portugal
- Taiwan
- Mexico
- Cambodia
- Bahrain
- Costa Rica
- Oman
- Colombia
- Vietnam
- Canada
No matter where you are moving, contact our consultants for a personalized assessment and quote of your international relocation.