5 Safest Countries in the World for Expats

When moving abroad, there are many factors to be taken into consideration before committing to that commitment. One of those is the safety of the country you are moving to. This is what we will cover in this article today.

The below findings have been obtained by an InterNations survey. They asked 14,300 expats over 174 nationalities and across 191 countries to rate 43 different aspects of living abroad on the scale of 1-7. 

One of those aspects was the topic of “personal safety and security”.

Here are the results.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg was voted the safest country in the world for expats. It may only have about half a million people living there, but Luxembourg's crime rate is one of the lowest in the world.

Whilst Luxembourg is one of the most expensive in the world, the city made all public transport free from March 2020 to encourage more use of the services and to reduce local traffic.  

Singapore

Not only is Singapore one of the richest countries in the world, but it is also rated the 2nd lowest in all terms of personal safety.

In addition to this, Singapore is popular for expats due to its job security and wage growth. It is also appealing to families, with many high ranking, good quality schools allowing families to know their children’s education is looked after in Singapore.

Japan

The InterNations survey showed that Japan stood out for its “peacefulness” which helped the country rank 3rd on the list for personal safety and security.

There are currently around 2million expats living in Japan with the country offering expats a different way of day to day life, with that standard of living being very high.

Many may be put off by the language barrier, but in the larger cities such as Tokyo, a large portion of the population do speak English. English speakers are also very much in demand here in Japan.

Canada

Surveyed expats in Canada gave the country a high score in the personal safety and security indexes. The country has a low crime rate, making it all the more appealing to expats.

According to a study by HSBC, Canada was rated the most welcoming of internationals to the country of different races, genders, faith and sexual orientation.

On top of all this, Canada is utterly beautiful. Famed most for its National parks with snow-capped mountains and emerald green lakes. It is no wonder Canada is such as popular locations for expats to relocate.

Malta

Another small nation on this list, Malta, has just over 400,000 residents and has been rated 5th highest in personal safety and security indexes. It is reported that Malta has around twice the number of police officers per 100,000 people compared to the US, Japan, Australia or Canada.

Malta is very affordable; however, a recent influx of expats has pushed the cost up in some areas. The economy is also booming, with some of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe. Malta is also close to many other European countries due to its location in the middle of the Mediterranean. Great if you want to explore the continent at the weekends!