For decades, Panama has led the rankings for retirees due to its many benefits and ease of settling in the country. But until today, it did not appear in the rankings of ‘ex-pats.’
The Expat Insider 2023, a ranking prepared by InterNations and which has surveyed thousands of expatriates worldwide for a decade, considers Panama the third-best country in the world.
This ranking considers the opinion of expatriates of 177 different nationalities who live in 181 countries or territories, considering variables such as quality of life, ease of settling in, personal finances, and more.
Panama is located after Mexico and Spain, highlighting that “it ranks 3rd out of 53 destinations in 2023. Expatriates are especially happy with the ease of settling in (4th). The country is in the top 3 in Finding Friends (1st) and Culture and Welcome (2nd) subcategories. Most expats (82%) have a personal support network (vs. 58% globally) and face little difficulty finding local friends (74% vs. 43% globally). They also feel at home (81% vs. 62% globally) and welcome (84% vs. 67% globally) in Panama.”
One of the things foreigners admire about the country is the climate and air quality. At the same time, it is also highly rated in the personal finance item, where “80% of expats are happy with their financial situation (vs. 58% globally). The Expat Essentials Index (7th) is another highlight. Despite difficulties opening a bank account (47th), expats say it is easy to find (83% happy vs. 49% globally) and afford (65% vs. 38% globally) housing. 81% of expatriates are generally satisfied with their life in Panama”.
InterNations founder Malte Zeeck noted in an interview for Forbes that “Panama’s performance in third place came as a surprise to us. It had not appeared in the survey at all in 2022 due to a lack of local respondents that year,” and now it has made a pretty spectacular comeback with the best Expat Insider result ever.”
He added, “Some of Panama’s strengths are similar to those of Mexico. The country ranks fourth regarding ease of settling in and eighth for personal finance. It also has high scores for housing, ranking fifth worldwide.”
If you want to read the complete findings, you can click here.
