Moving to a new country is rarely just about paperwork, salaries, or square footage. For most people who actually go through with it, the real test comes down to something harder to measure on a spreadsheet: whether the neighbors wave back, whether coworkers invite you for dinner, whether strangers bother to help when you're lost. That question sits at the heart of the latest InterNations Expat Insider surveys and other 2025 and 2026 relocation research, which repeatedly single out a small group of countries where newcomers say they felt embraced rather than merely tolerated.
The patterns that emerge are not always the ones people expect. Wealthy nations with famously efficient bureaucracies do not always top these lists. Instead, warmth tends to show up in places where social life moves at a slower, more personal pace, and where locals seem genuinely curious about the people arriving from elsewhere.
Mexico
Mexico (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Mexico has become something of a fixture at the top of expat friendliness rankings, and the numbers back up the reputation. Mexico finishes No. 1 in all three categories measuring social integration: local friendliness, making friends and feeling welcome. Nearly three-quarters of expats say making local friends is easy, almost double the global average, and more than one-third say most of their friends are local residents rather than other expats.
That sense of genuine integration, rather than polite distance, shows up across multiple survey years. The broader 2025 ranking notes that 35% of respondents say their friends and acquaintances are mostly locals, which points to a country where foreign arrivals are not always kept at arm's length. Earlier editions of the same survey found similarly strong numbers, with a large majority of respondents describing the local population as friendly toward foreigners.
Panama
Panama (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Panama's reputation for warmth has held remarkably steady over the past few years. Panama placed 2nd in the Ease of Settling In Index, and it appears to shine most on the social side of daily life, ranking 1st for Finding Friends, while more than four in five expats report being happy with their social life there. That kind of consistency across different survey cycles suggests the friendliness isn't a one year fluke.
The 2026 edition of the same research kept Panama near the very top of the overall table. The Central American nation ranked second for both ease of settling in, which includes how friendly the locals are, and how easy it is to get used to the local culture, with around 87% of expats happy with their life abroad, versus 70% globally, while a third want to stay in the country forever. Retirees in particular seem to gravitate there, drawn by a culture that welcomes long term newcomers rather than treating them as temporary guests.
Colombia
Colombia (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Colombia's climb up the expat rankings has been one of the more notable shifts in recent surveys. Climbing from fifth place in 2024 to No. 2 in the 2025 report, Colombia ranked as the second best country for expats overall. InterNations researchers point directly to social integration as the driving force behind that jump.
The depth of that integration is what stands out most. InterNations says Colombia ranks 1st for having a personal support network, with nearly four in five expats saying they have people around them for practical or emotional support, and 51% of respondents said their friends were mostly locals, while only 8% said they moved mainly in expat circles. Long term commitment numbers tell a similar story, with 36% of expats saying they wanted to stay in Colombia forever, and another 47% saying they have no clear plans of leaving the country.
Thailand
Thailand (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Thailand's appeal has shifted noticeably in the most recent survey cycle, moving from a solid mid table performer to one of the standout destinations. The happiest expats in the world can be found in Thailand, which ranked third overall in the 2026 Expat Insider report. That happiness appears closely tied to social comfort rather than just cost of living or climate.
The commitment figures are striking on their own. As many as 86% of expats say they are happy there and a further 42% want to stay forever, a combination that suggests the welcome extends well beyond the initial honeymoon period many newcomers experience abroad. Bangkok has also repeatedly appeared among the world's most liked expat cities in earlier InterNations city rankings, reinforcing the sense that the warmth is not confined to one region of the country.
Indonesia
Indonesia (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Indonesia consistently ranks at or near the very top when researchers isolate friendliness as its own category, separate from cost of living or career opportunities. The InterNations Expat Insider 2025 survey places Indonesia first in the local friendliness subcategory, followed by Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Brazil. That placement covers how expats rate both the general friendliness of locals and how easily newcomers can build real friendships.
The country's Finding Friends performance backs up the friendliness score with practical evidence. The study's Finding Friends subcategory evaluated satisfaction with social life, access to a dependable support system, and ease of making local friends, and Indonesia performed exceptionally well across all three, suggesting that newcomers are not only welcomed but also quickly integrated into daily life. Earlier survey rounds found similarly high numbers, with the large majority of respondents describing the local population as welcoming toward outsiders.
Philippines
Philippines (Image Credits: Pexels)
The Philippines has held a place among the friendliest destinations for expats across several consecutive survey cycles, a rare feat given how much movement typically happens elsewhere in these rankings. In the most recent breakdown of local friendliness scores, the Philippines followed closely behind Indonesia, Colombia, and Mexico in the top tier of countries where locals were rated as especially welcoming toward foreign residents.
That reputation is not new. Earlier InterNations survey editions placed the Philippines in a similarly high position, and the country's overall expat ranking has stayed in the upper half of the table even as economic and quality of life scores have fluctuated year to year. The consistency points to something cultural rather than tied to any single policy change or economic cycle.
Brazil
Brazil (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Brazil rounds out the group of countries where local friendliness stands out as a distinct strength, separate from broader quality of life metrics. Brazil rounds out the top five in the local friendliness subcategory, sitting just behind Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines in the most recent survey data. That placement has been fairly stable across multiple years of research.
Brazilians' reputation for openness toward outsiders long predates these formal surveys, but the data gives it some quantitative backing. Respondents in earlier InterNations editions consistently rated the local population highly on friendliness toward foreigners, a pattern that has carried through into the most recent rounds of research even as Brazil's overall economic rankings have shifted with currency and job market conditions.
Vietnam
Vietnam (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Vietnam has appeared on multiple friendliness focused rankings over the past several years, often surprising newcomers who expect a steeper cultural or language barrier than they actually encounter. Earlier InterNations Expat Insider data placed Vietnam ninth on its dedicated list of the world's friendliest countries, based largely on how warmly locals were rated toward foreign residents.
The country has also held a spot in the broader top ten overall expat rankings in recent years, a placement that reflects more than just affordability. Locals in Vietnamese cities are frequently described by survey respondents as curious and hospitable toward newcomers, and that social ease has helped keep the country in contention even as more established Southeast Asian destinations like Thailand and Indonesia continue to dominate the conversation.
Taken together, these eight countries make one thing fairly clear. Warmth toward newcomers doesn't necessarily track with wealth, infrastructure, or how simple a visa process looks on paper. It tends to show up instead in places where daily social life still runs through personal connection, where a stranger is treated as a future friend rather than an inconvenience, and where that pattern holds steady survey after survey rather than appearing for just one good year.