Find the best country to move to for you: compare visas, residency, citizenship, tax and the cost of living in 198 countries, for expats, digital nomads and global citizens.
Find the best country to live in or move to for you: pick what you're after and your passport, and every country sorts by how well it fits.
Central AmericaPanama
45% of US prices · Territorial · 5 years to citizenship
Navid is a resident hereThe countries
South-eastern Asia
3Philippines
South-eastern Asia
Eastern Africa
Eastern Europe
Southern Africa
Central Asia
Eastern Europe
South-eastern Asia
Central America
Eastern Africa
Southern Europe
Eastern Africa
Caribbean
Central America
South America
Caribbean
Eastern Europe
Eastern Asia
Southern Europe
Southern Europe
Southern Asia
Northern Africa
South America
Eastern Africa
Southern Europe
South America
Southern Africa
Western Asia
South-eastern Asia
South-eastern Asia
Southern Asia
South America
South-eastern Asia
Middle Africa
South America
Western Africa
Caribbean
South America
Central America
Caribbean
Central Asia
Central Asia
Western Africa
Eastern Asia
Eastern Asia
Eastern Africa
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Southern Asia
Eastern Africa
Caribbean
Northern Europe
Eastern Africa
Western Asia
Central America
Caribbean
Southern Europe
South-eastern Asia
Southern Europe
Southern Africa
Western Asia
Southern Europe
Caribbean
Eastern Europe
Western Asia
Melanesia
Western Asia
Caribbean
Western Africa
South-eastern Asia
South-eastern Asia
Southern Europe
Eastern Africa
75Spain
Southern EuropeNavid lived here
South America
Southern Africa
Southern Europe
Eastern Europe
Southern Asia
Eastern Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa
South-eastern Asia
Caribbean
Caribbean
Polynesia
Western Europe
Western Africa
Southern Europe
Northern Africa
Polynesia
Southern Europe
Melanesia
Northern Africa
Southern Asia
Central America
Middle Africa
Western Africa
Micronesia
South America
Eastern Europe
Caribbean
Southern Europe
Caribbean
Middle Africa
South America
Western Asia
Eastern Asia
Caribbean
Western Asia
Central America
Northern Europe
Central America
Western Europe
Western Asia
Western Asia
Northern Africa
Caribbean
Eastern Africa
Central Asia
Polynesia
Eastern Asia
Western Asia
Northern America
Western Asia
South America
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Northern Europe
Western Africa
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Southern Asia
Eastern Europe
Melanesia
Western Africa
Australia and New Zealand
Western Asia
Western Asia
Caribbean
Western Asia
South America
Northern Africa
Northern Europe
Caribbean
Eastern Africa
Polynesia
Western Africa
Central Asia
Southern Europe
Caribbean
Western Africa
Northern Europe
Southern Asia
Northern Europe
Eastern Europe
Northern America
South America
Northern America
Eastern Africa
Eastern Europe
Southern Europe
Melanesia
Caribbean
Southern Asia
Caribbean
Melanesia
Western Africa
Western Europe
Australia and New Zealand
Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe
Northern Europe
Northern America
Western Africa
Northern Europe
Eastern Africa
Western Africa
Northern Europe
Caribbean
South-eastern Asia
Southern Asia
Northern Europe
Eastern Asia
Eastern Europe
Northern Europe
Western Asia
Middle Africa
Western Europe
Eastern Africa
South America
Eastern Asia
Middle Africa
Caribbean
Northern Africa
Western AsiaHow it sorts: each thing you pick scores every country from 0 to 1 (live for less: the World Bank's price level against the US; lower tax: no income tax or a territorial system first, then remittance, then a worldwide system by its top rate; easy residency: open nomad, freelancer, passive income or retirement visas; fast citizenship: fewer years to naturalize, less if dual citizenship isn't allowed; start a company: a low corporate tax; fast internet: M-Lab's median download, from 5 Mbps (empty) to 150 Mbps (full) on a log scale; safe: the US travel advice, with Levels 1 and 2 both counting as everyday travel; visa-free on my passport: your passport's rule for the country), and the countries sort by the average. With nothing picked, it's a balance of cost, tax, residency and safety.
Prices: the World Bank's purchasing power conversion factor over the exchange rate (WDI, CC BY 4.0). Tax: the territorial tax map's classification and each country's rates. Citizenship and residency: official immigration sources in the visa finders' tables. Safety: the US State Department's advisories, read 2026-09-29. Internet: M-Lab's open speed tests over the last 12 months. Videos and photos from Pexels, Coverr, Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons, credited on each country.
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Where should you move?
The answer depends on your passport, your income and what you want from a new country.
This free finder compares all 198 countries on the things that decide a move: how long you can stay, the routes to residency and citizenship, tax, and what everyday life costs.
In this guide, I'll show you:
- The countries I've lived in, and what they're like on paper
- What makes a country good to live in
- The lowest-tax, cheapest and fastest-citizenship countries
- The best countries in each region
- Where every number comes from
Every country links to its own guide, with visas for your passport, tax, costs and the places to live.
TL;DRKey takeaways
The countries I've lived in
Here's every country I've lived in, the cities I lived in, each country's prices and its tax system:
- Where I lived
- Panama City, my home base
- Prices
- 45% of US
- Income tax
- Territorial
- Where I lived
- Phnom Penh
- Prices
- 34% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- –
- Prices
- 38% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Canggu, Seminyak and Kuta
- Prices
- 29% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Kuala Lumpur
- Prices
- 32% of US
- Income tax
- Remittance
- Where I lived
- –
- Prices
- 66% of US
- Income tax
- Remittance
- Where I lived
- Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cancún and Cabo San Lucas
- Prices
- 54% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Oslo
- Prices
- 91% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- –
- Prices
- 60% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Belgrade
- Prices
- 45% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Barcelona
- Prices
- 64% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Stockholm
- Prices
- 87% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- –
- Prices
- 31% of US
- Income tax
- Remittance
- Where I lived
- Istanbul
- Prices
- 41% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi
- Prices
- 63% of US
- Income tax
- No income tax
- Where I lived
- London
- Prices
- 89% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- New York, Los Angeles and San Diego
- Prices
- 100% of US
- Income tax
- Taxes citizens
- Where I lived
- Caracas and Valencia
- Prices
- –
- Income tax
- Worldwide
- Where I lived
- Da Nang and Ha Giang
- Prices
- 29% of US
- Income tax
- Worldwide
What are the best countries to live in?
The best country to live in depends on who's moving.
A remote worker needs a visa that lets them stay, and internet they can rely on.
An expat with a job offer needs the right work permit.
Someone building a global life thinks about tax residency, a second residency and one day a second passport.
That's why the finder asks what you're after first.
Countries with low or no tax on foreign income
These countries have no personal income tax, or tax only income earned inside the country.
They're sorted by how cheap everyday life is:
- Egypt – territorial, prices about 15% of US prices
- Bhutan – territorial, prices about 23% of US prices
- Zambia – territorial, prices about 30% of US prices
- Eswatini – territorial, prices about 33% of US prices
- Georgia – territorial, prices about 33% of US prices
- Philippines – territorial, prices about 33% of US prices
- Kenya – territorial, prices about 34% of US prices
- Paraguay – territorial, prices about 35% of US prices
- Brunei – no income tax, prices about 35% of US prices
- Angola – territorial, prices about 35% of US prices
Check the details for your situation on the territorial tax map, or see them all in countries with no income tax.
The cheapest countries to live in
By the World Bank's price level, these are the cheapest countries whose US travel advice is Level 1 or 2:
- Egypt – about 15% of US prices
- Laos – about 23% of US prices
- Bhutan – about 23% of US prices
- India – about 23% of US prices
- Bulgaria – about 23% of US prices
- Sierra Leone – about 24% of US prices
- Nepal – about 24% of US prices
- Gambia – about 25% of US prices
- Sri Lanka – about 27% of US prices
- Tajikistan – about 28% of US prices
The full ranking is in the cheapest countries to live in.
Countries with the fastest citizenship
These ask for the fewest years of residence, and allow dual citizenship at least in some cases:
- Argentina – about 2 years
- Armenia – about 3 years
- Bolivia – about 3 years
- Canada – about 3 years
- Australia – about 4 years
- Brazil – about 4 years
- Albania – about 5 years
- Barbados – about 5 years
- Belgium – about 5 years
- Bulgaria – about 5 years
Work out your own timeline with the second passport calculator, or see the easiest countries to get citizenship.
The best countries to live in, by region
With nothing picked, the finder balances cost, tax, residency and safety.
These come out on top in each region:
- Europe – Bulgaria, Moldova and Montenegro
- Asia – Thailand, Philippines and Kazakhstan
- Latin America – Panama, Belize and Grenada
- Africa – Kenya, Namibia and Seychelles
- North America – Bermuda, United States and Greenland
- Oceania – Fiji, French Polynesia and American Samoa
Countries to move to as a digital nomad
47 countries have a visa for remote workers.
Among them: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and Brazil.
Compare them all in the digital nomad visa finder, and the cities to live in with digital nomad locations.
Where the numbers come from
- Prices – the World Bank's purchasing power conversion factor divided by the market exchange rate, the latest year both have; 100% is US prices
- Tax – the territorial tax map's classification of each country's system, and its income, corporate, VAT and capital gains rates
- Residency and citizenship – the official immigration sources behind the visa finders, and the years of residence each country asks for naturalization
- Safety – the US State Department's travel advice; Levels 1 and 2 both count as everyday travel
- Internet – M-Lab's open speed tests over the last 12 months
Best Countries to Live In FAQs
Questions about choosing a country to move to? Here's what to know.
It depends on what you're after: cost, tax, residency, citizenship or a visa to work remotely.
Pick those in the finder with your passport, and the countries sort for you.
With nothing picked, the finder's top picks are Panama, Thailand, Philippines, Kenya and Bulgaria.
Add your own goals and passport to see yours.
Among others, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Bermuda, Brunei, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and Monaco.
The territorial tax map lists every country's system.
By the World Bank's price level, Egypt, Laos, Bhutan and India are among the cheapest with everyday-travel advice.
Rent in the biggest cities can be higher than the national level suggests.
Argentina, Armenia, Bolivia and Canada ask for the fewest years of residence among countries that allow dual citizenship.
Each country page shows the years and the rules.
For people who work online, the 47 countries with a digital nomad visa are usually the easiest.
For retirees, the ones with a retirement or passive income visa.
The US State Department rates 67 of them Level 1, normal travel.
That includes Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba and Australia.
Many passports can stay 90 days or more without a visa in dozens of countries.
Pick your passport in the finder, or see them all on the visa-free countries map.
Usually by living there more than half the year, often 183 days, and having your home there.
Count your days with the 183-day rule calculator, and check the rules of both countries with a tax adviser.
A country that taxes only income earned inside it, not income from abroad.
Panama, Georgia and Costa Rica work this way; the territorial tax map shows every country.
I've lived in Cambodia, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.
I'm a permanent resident of Panama, my home base.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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