Where people are the most welcoming to foreigners

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Have you ever lived overseas? Being a tourist or ex-pat in a different nation can be not easy – you can exhibit alone and isolated, and sometimes your just mates are other people from your home country. It can be challenging to learn the local language and integrate. But some nations are more welcoming than others, making the possibility of creating a new life more possible.

Most and Least Welcoming to foreigners by country

The map below is based on the question, “How welcome are foreign visitors in your country?” (1 = very unwelcome; 7 = very welcome”). The question was suggested to help “measure the extent to which a nation open to tourism and international visitants”. The survey results were published in the World Economic Forum report (2013).

Western European countries are very welcoming (except for Eastern European countries). Asian nations (except Thailand) aren’t so welcoming. 

List of countries ranked by welcoming to foreigners:

#1 Iceland, #2 New Zealand, 3# Morocco, 4# Macedonia, #5 Austria, #6 Senegal, #7 Portugal, #8 Bosnia and Herzegovina, #9 Ireland, #10 Burkina Faso, #11 Barbados, #12 Canada, #13 Thailand, #14 Mali, #15 UAE, #16 Singapore, #17 Malta, #18 Yemen, #19 Belgium, #20 Bahrain, #21 Rwanda, #22 Lebanon, #23 Switzerland, #24 Sweden, #25 Sri Lanka, #26 Philippines, #27 Australia, #28 Mauritius, #29 Seychelles, #30 Tajikistan, #31 Finland, #32 Hong Kong, #33 Georgia, #34 Zambia, #35 Oman, #36 Montenegro, #37 Greece, #38 Puerto Rico, #39 Sierra Leone, #40 Uganda, #41 Costa Rica, #42 South Africa, #43 Brazil, #44 Gambia, #45 Mexico, #46 Ghana, #47 Netherlands, #48 Cyprus, #49 Luxembourg, #50 Estonia, #51 Kenya, #52 Jordan, #53 Turkey, #54 Cameroon, #55 UK, #56 Malaysia, #57 Spain, #58 Côte d’Ivoire, #59 Norway, #60 Kazakhstan, #61 Egypt, #62 Dominican Republic, #63 Burundi, #64 Guinea, #65 Croatia, #66 Czechia, #67 Ethiopia, #68 Israel, #69 Swaziland, #70 Nepal, #71 Cape Verde, #72 Suriname, #73 Slovenia, #74 Japan, #75 Guyana, #76 Brunei, #77 Uruguay, #78 Taiwan, #79 Italy, #80 France, #81 Jamaica, #82 Azerbaijan, #83 Germany, #84 Chile, #85 Namibia, #86 Bangladesh, #87 Serbia, #88 Colombia, #89 Benin, #90 El Salvador, #91 Mozambique, #92 Nicaragua, #93 Moldova, #94 Algeria, #95 Armenia, #96 Peru, #97 Guatemala, #98 Albania, #99 Haiti, #100 Cambodia, #101 Paraguay, #102 USA, #103 Botswana, #104 India, #105 Madagascar, #106 Zimbabwe, #107 Kyrgyzia, #108 Vietnam, #109 Qatar, #110 Nigeria, #111 Panama, #112 Lithuania, #113 Argentina, #114 Indonesia, #115 Tanzania, #116 Hungary , #117 Denmark, #118 Poland, #119 Ecuador, #120 Lesotho, #121 Malawi, #122 Romania, #123 Mauritania, #124 Chad, #125 Honduras, #126 Trinidad and Tobago, #127 Ukraine, #128 Saudi Arabia, #129 Korea, #130 China, #131 Mongolia, #132 Bulgaria, #133 Slovakia, #134 Pakistan, #135 Iran, #136 Latvia, #137 Kuwait, #138 Russia, #139 Venezuela, #140 Bolivia

What countries are the most welcoming to expats?

But being a tourist and being an ex-pat is not the same thing. Inter Nations, the world’s largest network for ex-pats, has been taking an in-depth look at ex-pat living all over the globe.

In 2019, more than twenty thousand respondents participated in the Expat Insider survey. They rated their chosen places across forty different factors.

The most friendliness countries for expats

#1 Oman, #2 Mexico, #3 Portuagal, #4 Taiwan, #5 Vietnam, #6 Colombia, #7 Phillipines, #8 Indonesia, #9 Costa-Rica, #10 Bahrain, #11 Spain, #12 Ecuador, #13 Morocco, #14 Ireland, #15 Brazil, #16 Canada, #17 Argentina, #18 Israel, #19 Malaysia, #20 UAE, #21 Kenya, #22 Thailand, #23 Egypt, #24 Australia, #25 Greece, #26 New Zealand, #27 Kazakhstan, #28 Bulgaria, #29 Qatar, #30 Nigeria, #31 Cyprus, #32 Panama, #33 USA, #34 Lumxembourg, #35 Singapore, #36 Turkey, #37 South Africa, #38 India, #39 Japan, #40 Ukraine, #41 Malta, #42 Peru, #43 China, #44 Italy, #45 Belgium, #46 Netherlands, #47 Hungary, #48 Hong King, #49 Poland, #50 South Korea, #51 France, #52 Chile, #53 Russia, #54 Finland, #55 UK, #56 Norway, #57 Germany, #58 Estonia, #59 Sweden, #60 Switzerland, #61 Austria, #62 Czechia, #63 Denmark, #64 Kuwait.

Most- and Least -Accepting Countries for Migrants

The Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index ranks nations based on whether poll respondents said it was a good or bad thing for immigrants to live in the state, become their next-door neighbor, or marry one of their close relations.

Gallup World Poll based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with about one thousand adults. In some nations (Russia, China, India), sample sizes were between 2 thousand and 4 thousand adults.

Nine of the ten least accepting for migrants nations are former Soviet bloc countries.

List of countries ranked by Migrant Acceptance Index:

#1 Iceland, #2 New Zealand, #3 Rwanda, #4 Sierra Leone, #5 Mali, #6 Australia, #7 Sweden, #8 Nigeria, #9 Burkina Faso, #10 Ireland, #11 Norway, #12 Ivory Coast, #13 Benin, #14 Luxembourg, #15 Netherlands, #16 Bangladesh, #17 Spain, #18 USA, #19 Chad, #20 Albania, #21 Switzerland, #22 Senegal, #23 Germany, #24 Denmark, #25 Congo (Kinshasa), #26 Guinea, #27 Togo, #28 Ghana, #29 Venezuela, #30 Congo (Brazzaville), #31 Taiwan, #32 Philippines, #33 Uruguay, #34 Zimbabwe, #35 Lesotho, #36 Portugal, #37 Niger, #38 UK, #39 Finland, #40 Kenya, #41 Argentina, #42 Paraguay, #43 Italy, #44 South Korea, #45 Tunisia, #46 France, #47 Japan, #48 Morocco, #49 Saudi Arabia, #50 Brazil, #51 Cameroon, #52 Central African Republic, #53 Peru, #54 Nepal, #55 Belgium, #56 Liberia, #57 Colombia, #58 Ecuador, #59 Gabon, #60 Malawi, #61 Vietnam, #62 Austria, #63 Dominican Republic, #64 Nicaragua, #65 Hong Kong, #66 Libya, #67 UAE, #68 Armenia, #69 El Salvador, #70 South Sudan, #71 Mauritius, #72 Uganda, #73 Costa Rica, #74 Bolivia, #75 Cyprus, #76 Turkmenistan, #77 Haiti, #78 Mauritania, #79 Madagascar, #80 Singapore, #81 Ethiopia, #82 Chile, #83 Zambia, #84 Honduras , #85 China, #86 Botswana, #87 Somalia, #88 South Africa, #89 Malta, #90 India, #91 Uzbekistan, #92 Kuwait, #93 Tanzania, #94 Mexico, #95 Northern Cyprus, #96 Kyrgyzstan, #97 Guatemala, #98 Slovenia, #99 Tajikistan , #100 Panama, #101 Azerbaijan, #102 Kazakhstan, #103 Kosovo, #104 Iran , #105 Indonesia, #106 Yemen, #107 Palestina, #108 Lebanon, #109 Moldova, #110 Cambodia, #111 Egypt, #112 Iraq, #113 Belarus, #114 Greece, #115 Poland , #116 Turkey, #117 Ukraine, #118 Georgia, #119 Jordan, #120 Mongolia, #121 Myanmar, #122 Romania, #123 Lithuania, #124 Bosnia and Herzegovina, #125 Thailand, #126 Russia, #127 Afghanistan, #128 Pakistan, #129 Bulgaria, #130 Croatia, #131 Estonia, #132 Czechia, #133 Latvia, #134 Israel, #135 Slovakia , #136 Serbia, #137 Hungary, #138 Montenegro, #139 Macedonia