Expats moving to Portugal can expect to have an excellent quality of life according to a new report which ranks the country as the number one place to live as an expat.

The Expat Insider 2017 survey found that Portugal was number one on the Quality of Life Index with 93% of people surveyed stating that they are satisfied with their life abroad in Portugal and 29% going as far as saying that they are very happy with this aspect of their life.

Out of the 65 countries assessed in the annual survey, overall Portugal came 5th for expats when considering all the elements taken into account in the research.  The survey took into account quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, family life and personal finances with Portugal coming top for quality of life.

Portugal was the highest rated European country on the list, only coming behind Bahrain in first place, Costa Rica, Mexico and then Taiwan.  The next European country to be featured on the list is Malta in 7th, followed by Spain in 10th position.

Since the last report in 2016, Portugal has seen significant improvements across all areas of the survey with personal happiness levels up from 77% to 89%.

According to those who responded to the survey aimed at expats from all around the world, the political stability in Portugal has improved massively and this has helped to boost the scoring on the safety and security subcategory where a “Very good” rating has raised from only 11% to around one third this year.

Portugal is seen to be a safe country to live in and visit by the majority of expats with results from personal safety well above the global average at an impressive 95% - a six percentage point increase compared to 2016.

According to the report “Portugal is also number one when it comes to friendliness and feeling welcome.  In fact 88%, generally agree that it is easy to settle down in this country, while only 75% gave this factor a positive rating in 2016.

“One Brazilian expat appreciates the “Kind people, nice weather and food as well as the beautiful places to visit” in Portugal.”

A friendly welcome, great weather, positive political factors and a high quality of life continues to help Portugal rise up the rankings as one of the top places in the world to live as an expat.