Around 80 million expats live in countries throughout the world. However, as an aspiring expat, where should you look to relocate?
William Russell’s study considered a variety of characteristics, including happiness and well-being, expat health, career prospects, and overall quality of life, to decide which foreign countries are most advantageous for expats.
| Rank | Country | Happiness score/10 | Health score/10 | Employment score/10 | Country quality of life score/10 | Average score/10 | Total score/40 |
| 1 | Finland | 7.23 | 6.84 | 8.39 | 8.81 | 7.82 | 31.27 |
| 2 | Austria | 7.08 | 7.55 | 8.11 | 8.21 | 7.74 | 30.95 |
| 3 | Lithuania | 5.90 | 7.37 | 9.14 | 8.37 | 7.70 | 30.78 |
| 4 | Slovenia | 6.21 | 6.71 | 8.77 | 8.80 | 7.62 | 30.49 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 6.93 | 6.82 | 8.28 | 8.02 | 7.51 | 30.05 |
| 6 | Denmark | 7.07 | 6.69 | 7.85 | 8.09 | 7.42 | 29.69 |
| 7 | Latvia | 6.06 | 6.65 | 8.87 | 8.11 | 7.42 | 29.68 |
| 8 | Estonia | 6.31 | 6.89 | 7.85 | 8.61 | 7.41 | 29.66 |
| 9 | Czech Republic | 6.29 | 7.10 | 8.36 | 7.90 | 7.41 | 29.66 |
| 10 | Sweden | 7.20 | 6.20 | 7.98 | 8.07 | 7.36 | 29.46 |
Finland is the finest country in which to relocate as an expat, with an overall score of 31.27, which is 3.94 points better than the average score of 27.33. Finland was ranked fourth happiest country in the world, scoring 7.23/10, and was ranked first in terms of quality of life (8.81/10).
Austria and Lithuania round out the top three with scores of 30.95 and 30.78, respectively. Both countries performed consistently well, finishing in the top ten in three of the four categories.