Financial management company Blacktower has released its annual Quality of Life Index for expats. Germany has, once again, finished 15th place in the ranking, coming ahead of other popular expat destinations like the UK, the US, France and Spain.

Blacktower’s Quality of Life Index

Every year, the Blacktower financial management company releases its Quality of Life Index, which looks to find the countries that offer the best quality of life to expats and international workers.

For the Quality of Life Index, researchers looked at data from 195 countries across the globe and arranged the findings into six key metrics that help determine the happiness and quality of life of people living in those countries. Blacktower used data from the World Happiness Report to give each country a World Happiness Ranking, as well as collecting data on the average monthly salary, cost of living, property price to income ratio, quality of healthcare and global peace level of each nation.

The data was then analysed to create a ranking of the top 25 countries for expats. Switzerland remains the best country in the world for expats in 2022, achieving extremely high scores across the board, particularly in the World Happiness Ranking and Average Monthly Salary categories. In fact, this year’s top 10 countries are exactly the same as last year's, with Scandinavian countries well represented, as well as other popular expat destinations like the Netherlands, Australia and Canada.

Germany ranks outside the top ten

Just like last year, Germany finished 15th in this year’s Quality of Life Index. The federal republic scored decently across the board, getting its best scores in the Cost of Living and Property Price to Income Ratio categories, as well as outperforming a number of its European neighbours, like Ireland, France and Spain.

Germany did not perform particularly badly in any category but achieved average scores across the six categories. According to the Index, the average monthly salary and quality of healthcare in Germany were significantly lower than other, better performing European countries.

The top 15 countries for expats in 2022

According to Blacktower, the top 15 countries for expat quality of life in 2022 are:

1. Switzerland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Norway
5. Australia
6. Finland
7. New Zealand
8. The Netherlands
9. Austria
10. Canada
11. Singapore
12. Sweden
13. Japan
14. Belgium
15. Germany

For the full ranking and methodology, visit the Blacktower Financial Group website.