A high quality of life and the ease of settling in are among the reasons for expats’ high satisfaction with life in Portugal. Friendly locals and a great quality of life ensure that Portugal remains an attractive destination for expats, but working life fails to impress, researchers found.
Portugal ranks 6th out of 68 countries in the Expat Insider 2018 survey. The top 10 destinations for expats are Bahrain, Taiwan, Ecuador, Mexico, Singapore, Portugal, Costa Rica, Spain, Colombia, and Czechia.
Nearly all expats (94 percent) in Portugal rate the climate and weather positively (as opposed to 61 percent globally).
But only 39 percent of expats living in Portugal are happy with their career prospects, which is 16 percentage points less than the global average (55 percent).
A total of 62 percent of Portuguese expats find it likely that they will return to Portugal in the future compared with 43 percent globally.
After Portugal being rated the world’s most welcoming country in 2017, 87 percent of expats describe the local population’s attitude towards foreign residents as friendly in 2018. This is seven percentage points less than last year (94 percent), but still an incredible 21 percentage points more than the global average (66 percent).
Ranking 2nd out of 68 countries for quality of life, Portugal is only beaten by Taiwan in this regard. In fact, this is one of Portugal’s biggest pull factors: 28 percent of expats moved there in search of a better quality of life, compared to only 10 percent of expats worldwide relocating for the same reason.
Portugal ranks among the top 10 countries for personal safety: nearly all expats (98 percent) are satisfied with this factor, compared to a global average of 82 percent.
Close to every expat in Portugal (98 percent) also considers the country generally peaceful (vs. 78 percent globally), and more than three-quarters (77 percent) even give it the best possible rating (against 43 percent globally).
Thanks to these impressive results, Portugal ranks 2nd out of 68 destinations for peacefulness, only beaten by Luxembourg. More than nine in ten expats in Portugal (91 percent) feel generally satisfied with their life abroad, compared to 75 percent globally.
Source: http://theportugalnews.com/news/portugal-rated-best-european-country-for-expats/46826
