An inquiry into how expats feel in their adopted countries has put Portugal once again in a ‘feelgood Top 10’ – a country seen as one where it’s easy to make friends, get established, raise a family and generally enjoy quality of life.
Promoted by online community InterNations, Expat Insider 2018 has put Portugal in an ‘inclusive group of countries’ headed by Mexico, Bahrein, Serbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uganda, Colombia, Taiwan and Israel.
When it comes to “best countries for expats” generally, Portugal is in 6th position; when it comes to places where it’s easy to make friends, we’re in 10th.
How deep or long-lasting those friendships are, well that’s not the point of the inquiry. It’s all about inclusivity, and making expats feel welcome.
Says the latest study, 64% of expats “think it’s easy to make local friends” here (compared with 45% in global terms).
Portugal is used to doing well in these inquiries. 2017’s Expat Insider saw the country voted as “the best country for quality of life” altogether.
But what of the worst? Expat Insider gives us very useful information on where not to go if we’re feeling the need for a slap on the back and lots of invitations to parties: Kuwait, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Norway, Finland, Austria and Estonia.
These are the countries where making friends is described as “most difficult”.
The InterNations is apparently made up of more than three million online users organised within 420 global communities.
Portugal has 26,000 InterNations members, says Público, divided into three communities: Lisbon, Porto and Cascais.
