Every year, InterNations, the world's largest network for people who live and work abroad, conducts a survey to establish the ranking of the most welcoming countries in the world. And this time, it is Portugal that takes the lead, closely followed by Taiwan and Mexico, respectively on the second and third step of the podium.
For the purposes of the "Expat Insider Survey", the researchers questioned 13,000 expatriates in 188 countries or territories on various and varied criteria such as quality of life, attractiveness of salaries, cultural life, ability to make friends, conviviality…
As the magazine “Volta ao Mundo” points out, this is the first time that Portugal has been named “the most welcoming country for expatriates”. But the numbers don't lie! Thus, almost 94% of expats sent to Portugal believe that the Portuguese are "very friendly", "helpful" and "caring for others". 58% of them find it easy to make new friends in this country, and nearly half (47%!) are ready to settle there permanently... It makes you want to go there!
In the Top 10 we also find, in order:Cambodia, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Oman, Colombia, Vietnam and finally, Canada. No need to look for France in this list because it is very far away, in 55th place (out of 65) to be exact. Apparently the French are rather “aloof, unwelcoming and not very curious about others”… Ouch. But she's not the worst student. At the very end of this ranking, we find Kuwait (65th), Austria (64th) and Switzerland (63rd), countries which apparently offer a rather icy welcome to expatriates… They have a few lessons to learn from the side of the Portuguese!
