Kingdom Trails Only Panama and Mexico in Global Rankings
The kingdom ranked third out of 31 destinations for expat life in the InterNations Expat Insider 2026 survey, behind Panama and Mexico. The survey ran from February 1 to March 31 this year and drew roughly 7,786 respondents of 162 nationalities across the 31 countries ranked. Panama held the top spot for the third year running, while Mexico placed second overall and first for ease of settling in. Rounding out the top ten after the kingdom were the UAE, Brazil, Spain, Singapore, Portugal, Malaysia and Luxembourg.
Locally, 86 percent of expats said they were happy with life abroad, the highest share of any country surveyed, and the score on the happiness index reached 85.5, again the highest of the 31. Forbes, reporting on the findings, said 42 percent of expats here planned to stay forever. Respondents pointed to an affordable cost of living, inexpensive housing, welcoming residents and the quality of healthcare as key draws. Nine in ten praised the friendliness of locals, compared with 63 percent globally, and the destination placed first for expats feeling at home, seventh overall for healthcare and fourth for quality of medical care.
Expats Cite Low Safety and Environment Scores, Heavy Paperwork
Despite the strong happiness scores, expats gave the lowest marks of the 31 countries for environment and climate. Only a third rated air quality positively, against 65 percent globally, and government support for environmental policy ranked 30th. On safety, the kingdom placed 27th overall for safety and security, even though expats said they felt personally safe, ranking sixth on that specific measure. Political stability came in at 29th and freedom of expression at 30th.
Administrative red tape was another weak spot. The kingdom finished last of the 31 countries for ease of opening a local bank account and 30th for having admin services available online, while 80 percent of respondents said they found learning the local language difficult. The five lowest-ranked countries overall were Norway, Germany, Turkiye, the UK and Canada. The United States placed 20th, ranking last for quality of life but third for career prospects.
