Countries with Best Quality of Life

Top Countries with High Quality of Life

The country which is best for you will generally depend on your specific circumstances and interests. For some people, short commute and affordable cost of living might be most important, whereas for others it might be more important to be close to nature or have a strong work-life balance.

However, there are certain rankings and studies which provide more insight into which countries are generally best to live in. Countries like Finland, Norway, and Switzerland often come at the top of these rankings, suggesting that they offer a high quality of life across a number of criteria.

Throughout this article, a number of countries will be explored in more detail, all of which offer a high quality of life according to different parameters. Some quality of life rankings will also be offered to make it easier to compare different global locations and to demonstrate how each country ranks in terms of particular ‘quality of life’ criteria.

Switzerland

Switzerland is an appealing global location which offers a number of benefits, such as beautiful mountains, world-famous food, and strong travel connections.

However, it is also known for its expensive cost of living. This is an important consideration when deciding whether or not it is right for you.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Switzerland (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6
• Income and Wealth: 7
• Work and Job Quality: 9
• Social Connections: 6.5
• Knowledge and Skills: 6
• Environmental Quality: 7
• Civic Engagement: 3
• Health: 8
• Subjective Well Being: 7
• Safety: 8
• Work-life Balance: 6

Whether or not Switzerland is right for you will depend on which of these criteria you prioritise.

Norway

Norway is a country which is strongly associated with a high quality of life, as are a number of its Scandinavian neighbours. Norway offers a number of appealing benefits, including a thriving economy, affordable education, a strong work-life balance, accessible healthcare, and many areas of extraordinary natural beauty, including its fjords.

However, it is worth noting that parts of Norway also experience ‘Polar Nights’, meaning they receive minimal sunlight for extended periods in the winter. This is worth considering when deciding whether Norway is the right fit for you, and where in Norway you would want to settle, if outdoor activity or a warm climate are important to you year-round.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Norway (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 8
• Income and Wealth: 4
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 8
• Knowledge and Skills: 7
• Environmental Quality: 9
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 7.5
• Subjective Well Being: 7.5
• Safety: 9
• Work-life Balance: 7.5

You should identify which of these criteria are most important to you when deciding whether Norway is a strong fit.

Canada

Canada is a popular location for those looking to move abroad to a country with a high quality of life. It offers numerous areas of natural beauty, popular global cities like Toronto, a strong economy, world-class education, accessible healthcare, and exciting travel opportunities.

However, the cost of living can also be very high in Canada, especially in its city locations. It also experiences very cold winters, which is an important factor to consider when thinking about relocation and quality of life.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Canada (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 8
• Income and Wealth: 5
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 7
• Knowledge and Skills: 7
• Environmental Quality: 8
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 8.5
• Subjective Well Being: 6
• Safety: 7
• Work-life Balance: 5.5

Whether or not Canada is a strong fit for you will depend on which of these criteria you value most highly.

Germany

Germany offers a number of excellent benefits for those concerned with a high quality of life, including a strong work-life balance, a reliable welfare system, a blend of appealing city and countryside locations, and easy travel access to the rest of the EU.

However, as with many global destinations, the cost of living can often be higher in a number of its urban locations. Its winters can also be very cold in certain regions. When deciding on the location which is right for you, you should consider the full range of factors which contribute to the quality of life in your chosen country.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Germany (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 7
• Income and Wealth: 4
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 5.5
• Knowledge and Skills: 7
• Environmental Quality: 7
• Civic Engagement: 4
• Health: 6
• Subjective Well Being: 7
• Safety: 7
• Work-life Balance: 6.5

Note that income and wealth and civic engagement rank comparatively lowly, which is important to consider when deciding whether this is the right destination for you.

Australia

Australia is an excellent choice for those looking to move overseas to a country with a high quality of life. It offers a warm climate, a variety of outdoors activities, numerous areas of global beauty, and renowned global cities like Sydney.

Australia is especially known for its thriving surfing scene and its excellent weather. It also has strong cultural and travel ties to New Zealand, another beautiful travel destination.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Australia (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 8
• Income and Wealth: 5.5
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 7
• Knowledge and Skills: 8
• Environmental Quality: 8
• Civic Engagement: 8
• Health: 8
• Subjective Well Being: 6
• Safety: 6
• Work-life Balance: 4

Note that work-life balance does not score as highly as many of the other criteria. This is worth keeping in mind if Australia is high on your list of possible locations.

Iceland

Iceland is a country which regularly scores in the top five in quality of life indexes. It offers assorted benefits, including accessible healthcare, numerous areas of remarkable natural beauty, a strong economy, and excellent social support.

However, the cost of living can be very high (owing to how many of its goods need to be imported from elsewhere), there is limited diversity, and the winters are generally very cold. These are all important factors to consider when deciding whether this is the right location for you.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Iceland (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6
• Income and Wealth: 6
• Work and Job Quality: 8.5
• Social Connections: 9
• Knowledge and Skills: 6.5
• Environmental Quality: 8.5
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 7
• Subjective Well Being: 7
• Safety: 7
• Work-life Balance: 4

Note that Iceland scores very highly for work and job quality and environmental quality, but lower for work-life balance. These are important factors to keep in mind when choosing which city is right for you.

New Zealand

New Zealand offers numerous benefits to those looking to move abroad and secure a high quality of life. It is associated with excellent healthcare, numerous areas of natural beauty, strong education, and a good work-life balance. It also has strong travel connections to other appealing destinations like Australia.

However, the cost of living can be very high in New Zealand. It is also an expensive country to reach, limiting your travel opportunities if you move there permanently. These are important considerations when choosing whether this is the right country for you.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for New Zealand (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6.5
• Income and Wealth: 5.5
• Work and Job Quality: 7
• Social Connections: 7
• Knowledge and Skills: 6
• Environmental Quality: 7
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 8
• Subjective Well Being: 7
• Safety: 6
• Work-life Balance: 4

You should make sure to check that New Zealand’s strengths align well with your own criteria for a high quality of life.

United Kingdom

The UK is a popular destination for many people looking to move overseas. It offers numerous appealing benefits, such as exciting city locations like London and Edinburgh, numerous areas of natural beauty, and strong travel connections to numerous other global locations.

However, the cost of living can also be very expensive, especially in cities like London and Cambridge, and the climate can sometimes be cold. Welfare benefits are also generally lower than in many other European countries, whereas the cost of using public transport is generally higher.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for the UK (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6
• Income and Wealth: 5
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 7
• Knowledge and Skills: 6
• Environmental Quality: 6
• Civic Engagement: 6.5
• Health: 7
• Subjective Well Being: 5.5
• Safety: 8
• Work-life Balance: 5

Note that both work-life balance and income and wealth score comparatively low, important considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether the UK is right for you.

Denmark

Denmark, as with many of its Scandinavian neighbours, consistently ranks in the top spots for quality of life. It has a good work-life balance, numerous areas of natural beauty, and globally famous cities like Copenhagen.

However, the cost of living can often be expensive, and the winters are generally very cold.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Denmark (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6
• Income and Wealth: 3
• Work and Job Quality: 8
• Social Connections: 7.5
• Knowledge and Skills: 7
• Environmental Quality: 7.5
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 7
• Subjective Well Being: 7.5
• Safety: 8
• Work-life Balance: 7

Note that Denmark scores fairly highly across the board, with the exception of income and wealth, though this does not mean that it is not possible to live comfortably in Denmark.

Sweden

Sweden consistently scores highly in quality of life rankings. It offers a number of benefits, including a strong work-life balance, numerous areas of natural beauty, and excellent universities.

However, the cost of living can often be very high and the winters are generally very cold. These factors are worth considering when deciding whether or not Sweden is the right fit for you.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gives the following approximate scores for Sweden (out of 10), according to its numerous quality of life criteria:

• Housing: 6.5
• Income and Wealth: 4
• Work and Job Quality: 7
• Social Connections: 6.5
• Knowledge and Skills: 7
• Environmental Quality: 8.5
• Civic Engagement: 6
• Health: 7
• Subjective Well Being: 6.5
• Safety: 7
• Work-life Balance: 6.5

Sweden is another country which scores well according to most criteria, with the exception of income and wealth. However, note that there are different ways of measuring this and this score does not mean that it is not possible to live comfortably in Sweden.

Quality of Life Rankings

There are a number of organisations which offer rankings on quality of life in different global locations. In order to measure quality of life, these organisations generally pick a number of important criteria in ensuring a good quality of life and compare how each of the measured countries score according to these criteria.

As such, when using the ranking of a particular organisation, it is important to check that the criteria which they measure suit your own needs and preferences, and to understand how they have measured those criteria. Happiness levels may be measured in many different ways, for example, as may wealth, meaning that the same country may score differently depending on how a given criterion is measured.

The ‘Quality of Life’ ranking of US News offers the following top 10 countries for quality of life:

1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Switzerland
4. Norway
5. Canada
6. Finland
7. Germany
8. Australia
9. Netherlands
10. New Zealand

This ranking takes into account the countries’ average scores for each of the following factors:

• Affordability
• Job market
• Economic stability
• Family friendliness
• Income equality
• Political stability
• Safety
• Development of the public education system
• Development of the public health system

Numbeo also offers a quality of life index, finding the following 10 countries to take the top spots in 2025:

1. Luxembourg
2. Netherlands
3. Denmark
4. Oman
5. Switzerland
6. Finland
7. Norway
8. Iceland
9. Austria
10. Germany

The Numbeo ranking is calculated using factors like purchasing power, housing, climate, commute time, and healthcare quality.

It is worth noting that these are not exhaustive lists of the factors which contribute to quality of life in a particular country. Indeed, the criteria used by the two indexes are fairly different. However, they provide a general insight into the quality of life which is broadly available in the country in question, as compared to other global locations.

Countries such as Switzerland and Finland appear on both lists, suggesting a high quality of life across the board in these locations, even using different measurement criteria.

List of countries by Human Development Index

The Human Development Index is a UN ranking of countries which takes into account the following criteria when measuring life quality:

• A long and healthy life (measured using life expectancy at birth)
• Being knowledgeable (measured based on years of schooling of adults and expected years of schooling of children)
• Having a decent standard of living (measured based on gross national income per capita)

The Human Development Index data therefore gives us another angle from which to consider quality of life in different countries. According to this dataset, the following ten countries took the top 10 places in 2023:

1. US
2. Russia
3. Japan
4. Turkey
5. Germany
6. UK
7. France
8. Italy
9. South Korea
10. Spain

This list differs from some of the others explored elsewhere in this article; it includes Russia and Turkey, for example. This acts as a reminder that ‘quality of life’ is a subjective term and countries’ performances will vary based on the specific measurement criteria which are used, and how those criteria are understood.

When picking the country that is right for you, you should keep in mind your own specific preferences and well-being criteria.

How Can IAS Help You?

Life quality is an important consideration when thinking about moving to a different country. It can also be understood in many ways, depending on the particular criteria which are important to you and relevant to your circumstances.

When considering data on the quality of life in different locations, you should pay attention to the criteria which the organisation has used and how they have measured them. What provides an excellent quality of life for one person may fail to satisfy the necessary criteria of another. Norway would be an excellent choice for many but a worse choice for someone who values outdoor activity and a year-long warm climate, for example.

At IAS, we can help you to find the country which is the best fit for you based on your specific circumstances. Our experts are ready to provide you with bespoke advice on every stage of the move, including integration once you arrive. Contact us online today, or on +44 (0)333 414 9244 to learn more about our full range of services and to start your own relocation journey.