In a survey that was filled in by more than 14,000 respondents, Malta was ranked as the second-best place in the world for foreigners to live.
Taiwan was considered the overall winner, but Malta was the winner when it comes to love. From all the expats that are living in Malta, 70% are in a relationship, 64% are delighted with their partner, and 44% live here with a partner from a third country. This is double the global average.
The respondents were asked to rate 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of one to seven in The Expat Insider 2016 survey. The topics where ranging from the friendliness of locals to taxation and provision of services.
Malta was first on the list for leisure options and placed second when foreigners were asked to rate their personal happiness. In other quality of life sub-categories, Malta ranked well too. When asked whether it is easy to settle down and make friend in Malta, the island obtained a very good rating.
In the category of work experience, Malta did no rank as high. Foreigners working in Malta are not as pleased with their work-life balance as they were a year ago and an even smaller percentage said that they are satisfied.
From all the foreigners worldwide, 31% said they are planning to stay in the same place. In Malta this number is much higher; almost half of all Malta-based foreigners that took the survey said they were planning on staying in Malta forever.
Last year Malta finished third, so there was an improvement. Ecuador drops, after being best in 2014 and 2015, to the third place this year.
The biggest mover this year, is Vietnam. Last year this country was on the 35th place and in 2016 they soared to the 11th place. Uganda and Finland also registered big gains. While some gained favourable results, there are also some countries that dropped, like UAE, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
Top 10 countries for foreigners
1. Taiwan
2. Malta
3. Ecuador
4. Mexico
5. New Zealand
6. Costa Rica
7. Australia
8. Austria
9. Luxembourg
10. Czech Republic
Bottom 10 countries for foreigners
67. Kuwait
66. Greece
65. Nigeria
64. Brazil
63. Saudi Arabia
62. Egypt
61. Mozambique
60. Qatar
59. Italy
58. Tanzania