Vietnam Named Most Affordable Country For Expats
![]() | Expats Recieve Awards For Helping Vietnamese Community in Japan |
![]() | Thai Expats Join Vietnam's Blood Donation Drive |
InterNations, a community of workers working abroad with more than 5.3 million members from 420 cities, has just released a report ranking ideal destinations for foreigners to work (Expat Insider 2024 Ranking).
This ranking surveyed more than 12,500 workers working in 53 countries and territories. Ranking criteria revolve around five categories including quality of life, life stability, work, personal finances and essential needs.
![]() |
Photo: VGP |
Vietnam ranked first for the fourth consecutive year
According to the Expat Insider 2024 report, Vietnam is the most affordable country in the world for expats, ranking first among 53 destinations when it comes to personal finances. This is also the fourth consecutive year that Vietnam ranks first in this criterion.
In addition to ranking first in personal finance, among the group of 53 destinations, Vietnam ranked 14th in terms of working conditions for foreigners (such as career prospects, salary and job security), ranked 29th for essential services for expats such as digital living, housing and languages, and 40th for quality of life.
Regarding personal finance index, InterNations asked survey participants to rank their satisfaction level in three areas including general living expenses, satisfaction with financial status and whether the household's disposable income is enough to live a comfortable life.
The results show that the group of 10 top countries has not changed too much compared to last year, with only one new name, Brazil, ranking 9th, replacing Malaysia after this country dropped from 5th in 2023 to 11th in 2024.
Among the group of foreigners living in Vietnam, 86% rated the cost of living here at a good level, 40% higher than the average of other countries around the world surveyed.
Meanwhile, 65% said they were satisfied with the current financial situation in Vietnam, also higher than the average of 54% of countries around the world surveyed.
Notably, up to 68% said their disposable income is more than enough to provide a comfortable life, much higher than the average of 41% of other countries surveyed.
Not only is the cost of living low, foreigners living in Vietnam are also paid higher salaries than the average of foreigners living in other countries. Up to 19% of foreigners living in Vietnam participating in the survey said they received an annual income of US$150,000 or more, while this rate in other countries was only about 10%.
![]() |
Photo: Saigon Times |
In addition, the overall job satisfaction level of foreigners in Vietnam is also high.
Among 53 destinations globally, 4 Asian countries are in the top 10 list this year, along with Indonesia in 3rd place, Thailand in 6th place, and Vietnam in 8th place, right above the Philippines ranked 9th.
“The people are very friendly, and the cost of living is very low,” an American expat told InterNations.
Quality of Life is Vietnam’s sore point in the ranking. Despite an improvement by seven positions compared to last year, the country still landed in an unimpressive 40th place on the index. The worst-performing subcategory is Environment & Climate (50th). Meanwhile, the country ranked 37th in the Travel & Transit category.
Expats named Panama as the best place to live in 2024. Six countries in the top 10 can be found in Asia: Vietnam (first), Indonesia (third), the Philippines (fifth), India (sixth), Thailand (eighth), and China (10th). They all performed very well across the three categories covered by the index.
![]() | Art1st - A Korean Band Inspired by Hanoi's Bustling Nature For Park Seo-yun, Gwak Bong-su, Kim Dong-wook, Hwang Se-hwan, Mun Ye-ji and Yoon Ji-eun from the Korean band "Art1st", capturing the ups and downs of ... |
![]() | Viet Expats in Mongolia Supports Cao Bang's Borders On June 6, 2024, the Vietnamese Embassy in Mongolia and the Vietnamese Businessmen Association in Mongolia organized a fundraising ceremony to support the "Lighting up ... |
Most read
Recommended
![Vietnam Deploys Mass Evacuation Ahead of Yagi landfall](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/07/12/04a3b68df4ecacfed37221a244ca9145.jpg?rt=20240907120547)
Vietnam Deploys Mass Evacuation Ahead of Yagi landfall
![Multitasking: The New Norm for Young Workers](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/05/15/f663c34b40649c8712f38084f173a78c.jpg?rt=20240905151729)
Multitasking: The New Norm for Young Workers
![Google Arts and Culture Launches “Vibrant Vietnam” Project](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/05/23/3fa6714009a992e076c4bd6fa180d2af.jpg?rt=20240905233212)
Google Arts and Culture Launches “Vibrant Vietnam” Project
![Vietnam Named Asia's Leading Nature Destination in 2024](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/05/13/bbca17539003d3b2dd2d167014463b98.jpg?rt=20240905135207)
Vietnam Named Asia's Leading Nature Destination in 2024
Popular article
![Vietnam Participates in ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Meeting](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/05/23/54e717b0fcb7473b13307c5554970371.jpg?rt=20240905233929)
Vietnam Participates in ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Meeting
![Tourism Sector Thrives with 3 Million Visitors during National Day holiday](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/04/13/5e0d6d511fb932c8279c91a350a1160c.jpg?rt=20240904135810)
Tourism Sector Thrives with 3 Million Visitors during National Day holiday
![Russian Scholar Pyotr Tsvetov And His Special Books](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/092024/03/20/croped/50ecc03917c727685311bd059e0857a1.jpg)
Russian Scholar Pyotr Tsvetov And His Special Books
![Vietnam's One-of-a-Kind Products Drive Tourism](https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/stores/news_dataimages/2024/082024/30/21/2860bc88a6db5190501c19efcfc8f1c2.jpg?rt=20240830210700)