The famous Portuguese welcome now has a ranking with the country coming in at number ten worldwide of the friendliest places for foreigners to move to - and number one within Europe.
The InterNations survey released this week states that the ‘affability level’ is one of the factors that contributes to a happy and successful relocation to any new country.
The Portuguese win out as the most friendly people in Europe for immigrants and one of the countries where it is easiest to make new friends and to feel welcome by locals who help immigrants to familiarise themselves with new habits and culture.
The InterNations study analysed countries based on quality of life, safety and ease of adaptation, which relies heavily on a hearty welcome.
Worldwide, the friendliest countries are Taiwan followed by Uganda and Costa Rica. The best countries for foreigners to move to, taking into account this range of factors, are Taiwan, Malta and Ecuador.
The study resulted from interviews with over 14,000 people living in 191 countries.
Someone had to come last, of course, and the grumpiest nations were the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The happy worldwide top ten is as follows:
1. Taiwan
2. Uganda
3. Costa Rica
4. Mexico
5. Colombia
6. Oman
7. Philippines
8. New Zealand
9. Vietnam
10. Portugal
Brits abroad: British people do not necessarily stray far away from home. Indeed, the three top countries of residence are Spain (8%), Germany (6%), and France (5%).
British respondents say they considered the climate one of the top potential benefits prior to their move: 63% were looking forward to leaving the British weather behind, as well as hoping for generally better living standards. Indeed, work is not the most important reason for British people to live abroad. Instead, 15% indicate a wish for a better quality of life, followed by 14% who moved to live in their partner’s home country.
The British are not prone to short stays, either: 35% have been living in their host country for more than ten years, while only 9% have been living there for less than six months. Similarly, when asked about the planned length of their experience abroad, nearly half of the respondents (49%) plan to stay in their host country possibly forever. This is 18 percentage points more than the global average.
Before moving to their current country of residence, the British expats did not necessarily live in many other foreign countries. Indeed, for the largest group of 28%, this is their first stay abroad, while more than one in six (18%) have lived in another country before.
There is, however, also a not insignificant portion of British expats - 16% to be exact - who have lived in five or more countries already.
https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/2016/the-british-abroad
