Panama tops the Expat Insider 2024 ranking, followed by Mexico and Indonesia. Portugal is ranked 15th in the same list, which evaluates the best countries for expatriates. This marks a drop of five places from last year’s ranking.

Compiled by InterNations since 2014, the Expat Insider ranking covers 53 countries. Panama, which rose from 3rd to 1st place, leads the list, with Mexico and Indonesia coming in second and third, respectively. Spain, the highest-ranked European country, holds 4th place, mainly due to its high quality of life. Colombia rounds out the top five.

Portugal’s decline to 15th place is due to lower scores in certain evaluated categories. While the country still performs well in quality of life (7th), personal finances (13th), and ease of settling in (15th), it falls behind in other areas. The categories for working abroad and important factors for expatriates, such as housing, digital services, and language, received lower ratings. Consequently, Portugal’s overall happiness rating among expats has slipped out of the top five.

Foreign residents in Portugal often cite a lack of career opportunities and bureaucratic challenges as significant drawbacks when working in the country.

The Expat Insider 2024 survey included 12,000 participants from 175 nationalities. Kuwait is ranked last, followed by Turkey in 52nd and Finland in 51st place. Finland experienced the biggest drop this year, plummeting from 16th to 51st place due to poor integration and financial ratings.

Based in Munich, Germany, InterNations is one of the world’s largest expat communities, with over 5.3 million members.