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Two seniors take a break by the West Lake in Hanoi after doing morning exercise in October 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Tung.

The country scored 76 points out of 100 on the Retirement Index compiled by International Living, an Irish publishing company that focuses on retiring overseas.

It asked its correspondents and experts living in 24 countries to rate their countries based on several factors like buying and investing, renting, benefits and discounts, visas and residence, cost of living, fitting in, entertainment, healthcare, development, climate, and governance.

Vietnam scored the best in cost of living with 92 points.

"Vietnam’s exceptionally low cost of living is a major incentive for living here. Even in the most expensive cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, two people can live well for less than $1,500 per month," the report said.

In terms of healthcare services and opportunity too the country did well with 84 points each.

In recent years, thanks to improved quality and low costs, Vietnamese healthcare services have become increasingly sought-after by international clients.

In 2018 some 300,000 foreigners visited Vietnamese hospitals and 57,000 were admitted, a 50 percent increase from five years earlier.

But the country performed poorly in terms of climate and visas with 60 and 68 points.

Vietnam was plagued last year by serious air pollution, heat waves and severe flooding in major cities.

The country has among the strictest visa policies in Asia, offering visa waivers to visitors from only 24 countries and territories including ASEAN co-members.

Portugal is the top retirement country, followed by Panama and Costa Rica. Mexico and Colombia were fourth and fifth.

The rest of the top 10 were Ecuador, Malaysia, Spain, and France./.