Singapore ranks #1 with a score of 83.3/100, followed by Australia (80.9) and Canada (78.3). The index evaluates 9 dimensions: safety, visa ease, cost of living, healthcare, English proficiency, tax burden, career opportunities, weather, and cultural adaptation. Countries in the 'Excellent' tier (80+) offer the strongest combination of these factors for international relocation.
Top 20 Countries — Moveability Rankings
Scores represent composite performance across all 9 dimensions, normalised to a 0–100 scale. Tier thresholds: Excellent ≥ 80, Good 70–79.9, Fair 60–69.9, Challenging < 60.
| # | Country | Score / 100 | Tier | Strongest | Weakest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Singapore |
83.3 |
Excellent | Tax, Career | Cost |
| 2 |  Australia |
80.9 |
Excellent | Career, Culture | Cost |
| 3 |  Canada |
78.3 |
Good | English, Culture | Cost |
| 4 |  Ireland |
76.7 |
Good | Safety, English | Weather |
| 5 |  Bahrain |
76.6 |
Good | Weather, Tax | Ease |
| 6 |  Qatar |
76.0 |
Good | Career, Tax | Culture |
| 7 |  Malta |
75.9 |
Good | Weather, Safety | Cost |
| 8 |  New Zealand |
75.9 |
Good | Safety, English | Cost |
| 9 |  Kuwait |
75.3 |
Good | Tax, Career | Ease |
| 10 |  Andorra |
74.9 |
Good | Weather, Tax | Ease |
| 11 |  Cyprus |
74.8 |
Good | Weather, Tax | Cost |
| 12 |  Luxembourg |
74.6 |
Good | Healthcare, Safety | Ease |
| 13 |  Denmark |
74.3 |
Good | Healthcare, Safety | Cost |
| 14 |  Sweden |
74.0 |
Good | Healthcare, Safety | Weather |
| 15 |  Iceland |
73.9 |
Good | Safety, Career | Weather |
| 16 |  Norway |
73.8 |
Good | Healthcare, Career | Weather |
| 17 |  Spain |
73.6 |
Good | Healthcare, Safety | Career |
| 18 |  South Korea |
73.2 |
Good | Tax, Healthcare | Ease |
| 19 |  Oman |
72.7 |
Good | Weather, Tax | Ease |
| 20 |  Finland |
72.3 |
Good | Healthcare, Safety | Weather |
Showing top 20 of 190+ countries ranked.
Download full 191-country dataset (CSV)Methodology
The Global Moveability Index is built on publicly available, annually updated data from nine separate international research bodies. Each country receives a score from 0 to 100 per dimension, then a weighted composite is calculated.
Safety
Personal safety, crime rates, and political stability. Source: Global Peace Index (IEP) + cost-of-living tools Crime Index.
Visa Ease
Availability and accessibility of long-stay, skilled worker, and residency visa routes. Source: whereTOemigrate programme database (+2,500+ pathways).
Cost of Living
Monthly expenses for a single expatriate including rent, food, transport, and utilities. Source: cost-of-living tools Cost of Living Index 2026.
Healthcare Quality
Quality and accessibility of public and private healthcare for residents. Source: WHO Global Health Observatory + cost-of-living tools Healthcare Index.
English Proficiency
Working-level English competency in the general population. Source: EF English Proficiency Index 2025.
Tax Burden
Personal income tax rates and presence of expat-friendly tax regimes (flat rates, non-domicile status). Source: OECD Tax Database + national tax authorities.
Career Opportunities
Labour market openness, expat work rights, and presence of global employers. Source: World Bank Doing Business indicators + ILO employment data.
Weather
Climate suitability for most expatriates, weighted towards moderate temperatures and low extreme-weather risk. Source: WorldWeatherOnline historical averages.
Cultural Adaptation
Ease of social integration for international residents, including expat community size and social openness. Source: InterNations Expat Insider 2025 + Hofstede cultural dimensions.
All nine dimensions are weighted equally (11.1% each) in the current version of the index. Scores are normalised to a 0–100 scale within each dimension before compositing. Data is primarily drawn from the Global Peace Index (Institute for Economics & Peace), cost-of-living tools (cost of living and crime), the EF English Proficiency Index, OECD tax and labour data, the WHO Global Health Observatory, and the World Bank development indicators.
Data currency varies by source. Most datasets reflect 2025 survey periods; some government tax and immigration data is verified against 2026 official publications. We apply a 6-month staleness flag to any source not updated since September 2024.
Limitations: Equal dimension weighting does not reflect individual priorities — a person who cannot tolerate high costs should weight the Cost dimension more heavily. Visa scoring uses country-level programme counts and does not account for nationality-specific eligibility restrictions. Weather is scored on an "average expatriate" basis and may not reflect preferences for cold or tropical climates. The index measures country-level quality, not personal fit.
Read full methodology →How to Use This Data
The Moveability Index is a useful starting point for country discovery — but it is not a decision tool on its own.
This index measures country-level quality, not personal fit. Your nationality, profession, savings, and priorities fundamentally change which countries are viable for you. A country ranked #50 overall might be your #1 option based on your passport and skills — and the #1 country on this list might be inaccessible to you without a specific visa qualification. Take the free assessment to get your personalized ranking based on your actual profile.
Get Your Personalized Verdict
14 questions. 2 minutes. We match your passport, profession, savings, and priorities against 2,500+ visa programmes and return a Eligible / Almost verdict for every viable country.
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Primary Data Sources
The index draws on the following publicly available datasets. All sources are cited with their most recent edition used.
- Institute for Economics & Peace — Global Peace Index 2025. Annual ranking of 163 nations by peacefulness. visionofhumanity.org
- cost-of-living tools — Cost of Living Index 2026 & Crime Index 2026. Crowdsourced consumer and safety data, updated quarterly.
- EF Education First — EF English Proficiency Index 2025 (15th edition). English skills of non-native speakers across 116 countries. ef.com/epi
- OECD — Taxing Wages 2025 & Tax Database. Personal income tax rates, social contributions, and effective rates. stats.oecd.org
- World Health Organization — Global Health Observatory 2024. Healthcare access, coverage, and quality indicators. who.int/data
- World Bank — World Development Indicators 2025. GDP per capita, labour force participation, ease of doing business. data.worldbank.org
- InterNations — Expat Insider Survey 2025. Annual survey of 12,000+ expatriates covering quality of life and settling-in ease. internations.org
- WorldWeatherOnline — Historical Climate Averages 2015–2024. Monthly temperature, sunshine hours, and precipitation by city. worldweatheronline.com
- Geert Hofstede — Country Comparison Tool. Cultural dimension scores used for cultural adaptation scoring. hofstede-insights.com
- whereTOemigrate — Internal Programme Database 2026. +2,500+ visa and residency pathways across 190+ countries, verified against official government sources. wheretoemigrate.io