Panama
Panama has now topped the Expat Insider ranking for three consecutive years, and the happiness numbers explain why. 87% of expats in Panama are happy with their life abroad, compared to 70% globally. That gap is not a rounding error. It reflects a country that consistently outperforms expectations across nearly every category expats care about.
Money worries barely register for most people living there. Ninety percent of expats feel their disposable household income is enough to lead a comfortable life, and over three-quarters are satisfied with their financial situation. Nature plays a role too, since 96% of expats love the natural environment, and the air quality is rated excellent. The one soft spot is the local job market, where career opportunities and pay satisfaction rank near the bottom, but for a large share of Panama’s expat population, many of whom are retirees, that barely dents the overall picture.
Mexico
Mexico holds the number two spot overall, and its strength has almost nothing to do with paperwork or salaries. It is about people. Mexico finishes No. 1 in all three categories measuring social integration: local friendliness, making friends and feeling welcome, with nearly three-quarters of expats saying making local friends is easy, almost double the global average.
That social warmth translates into long-term commitment. Many expats have chosen to put down roots: 32% are already retired, and 38% plan to stay forever. The trade-off shows up in safety perceptions, where only 68% of expats rate their personal safety positively, compared to 81% globally, and 27% cite the lack of safety as one of their biggest worries before relocating, versus 6% globally. Even with that concern on the table, the sense of belonging seems to outweigh it for most people who make the move.
Thailand
If there is a single country that best captures the idea of “highest happiness levels,” it is Thailand. Thailand ranked third overall and recorded the highest levels of overall happiness among expats in the entire survey. According to the survey, 86% said they are happy living in Thailand, while 42% would like to remain there permanently.
Affordability is a big part of the story. The country also ranked second for personal finances, with 85% of respondents praising its low cost of living, and housing was considered both the most affordable and among the easiest to find. It is also a magnet for retirees specifically, since 40% of respondents were retired, while 22% said retirement was their primary reason for moving there. The one real drawback is environmental, with concerns about air quality and government climate policy dragging down an otherwise glowing report card.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE takes a different route to expat satisfaction than the Latin American and Southeast Asian countries above it. It ranks fourth overall in the Expat Insider 2026 report, ahead of Brazil and Spain. Rather than winning people over with warmth and affordability, it competes on infrastructure, efficiency, and career logistics.
Earlier survey data from the region gives a sense of how that plays out on the ground, with cities such as Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi scoring strongly on ease of settling in and administrative smoothness. Expats report that it’s easy to get set up here, with 78 percent indicating that they had no issues getting a visa to move there. It is worth noting that this year’s findings come with a caveat, since the results only partially reflect the possible impact of the war on the lives of expats in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Brazil
Brazil’s climb into the top five is one of the more notable shifts in the 2026 rankings. Brazil made the biggest leap of any country this year, helping reshape the upper tier of the ranking around belonging and lifestyle rather than raw national wealth. That framing matters, because Brazil does not lead on economic metrics the way Panama or the UAE do.
Instead, the appeal seems to rest on the same qualities that define its Latin American neighbors higher up the list. Brazil carries a weaker macroeconomic scorecard than some competitors, yet its expats report stronger belonging, warmer welcomes, and more financial comfort in daily life. It is a reminder that happiness abroad often has less to do with a country’s balance sheet and more to do with how quickly a newcomer feels like they belong somewhere.
Spain
Spain is the only European country to break into the global top six, and it earns that spot on lifestyle rather than bureaucracy. Spain ranked sixth overall and was Europe’s highest-performing destination, leading the quality-of-life category thanks to its climate, leisure opportunities, and affordable public transport.
That quality of life edge shows up clearly in the happiness-specific rankings, where expats in Latin America and Southeast Asia rank happiest overall, with Spain snagging fourth place on that specific measure, ahead of countries with higher overall scores. For a country in a continent that otherwise struggles in this survey, with places like Germany, Norway, and the UK clustered near the bottom, Spain stands out as proof that European living can still deliver genuine contentment for the people who relocate there.
Taken together, these six countries tell a fairly consistent story. Warm climates, welcoming locals, and manageable living costs tend to matter more to day to day happiness than national wealth or infrastructure rankings ever do. It is also worth remembering that these results describe expat life specifically, not general national happiness, since several countries that top global wellbeing indexes for their own citizens land near the bottom of this particular list once foreigners are the ones answering the questions.
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