Best Countries to Retire

Chile ranks #1 with a composite score of 83.2.

Top 5 Ranked

Chile

83.2

Japan

82.2

Sweden

80.9

4 United States

5 Germany

Chile

83.2

Japan

82.2

Sweden

80.9

4 United States 79.2

5 Germany 78.6

Overview

The best countries for retirement combine affordable living with strong healthcare systems. Several Southeast Asian and Latin American countries rank highly due to low costs and improving healthcare. European countries with public healthcare systems also perform well despite higher costs, thanks to exceptional life expectancy and infrastructure scores.

Global Rankings

Rank	Country	Score	Cost Index (index)	Life Expectancy (years)	Health Spending (% GDP)	Internet Access (%)	Water Access (%)
1	Chile	83.2	44.2	81.4	10.5%	95.6%	99.1%
2	Japan	82.2	53.1	84.0	10.7%	85.5%	99.2%
3	Sweden	80.9	74.3	84.1	11.2%	95.8%	99.8%
4	United States	79.2	100.0	78.9	16.7%	94.7%	100.0%
5	Germany	78.6	77.8	80.8	12.3%	93.5%	100.0%
6	South Korea	78.5	69.3	83.6	8.7%	97.9%	100.0%
7	France	78.5	78.5	83.0	11.5%	88.7%	100.0%
8	Spain	78.5	72.2	83.9	9.2%	95.8%	99.9%
9	Slovenia	77.9	67.4	82.3	9.9%	90.8%	99.6%
10	New Zealand	77.8	71.7	82.0	10.1%	93.5%	100.0%
11	Austria	77.8	83.2	82.0	11.8%	91.9%	100.0%
12	Finland	77.8	76.2	82.3	10.5%	93.7%	100.0%
13	Portugal	77.7	69.1	82.4	10.2%	88.5%	99.3%
14	Canada	77.6	80.2	82.1	11.3%	94.4%	98.3%
15	Belgium	77.2	83.8	82.3	10.8%	95.8%	100.0%
16	Jordan	77.0	41.5	78.0	7.7%	95.6%	99.3%
17	Kuwait	77.0	55.9	84.6	5.0%	100.0%	100.0%
18	Australia	76.3	89.0	83.1	10.4%	96.1%	100.0%
19	Brazil	76.2	42.5	76.0	9.7%	84.5%	100.0%
20	Greece	75.8	62.3	81.8	8.4%	86.3%	100.0%
21	Argentina	75.8	58.7	77.5	10.3%	89.7%	99.0%
22	United Kingdom	75.7	89.7	81.4	11.1%	95.5%	100.0%
23	Italy	75.6	75.6	84.0	8.4%	89.2%	99.9%
24	Malta	75.6	79.1	83.0	8.8%	93.9%	100.0%
25	Montenegro	75.4	57.5	77.9	9.7%	88.9%	99.3%
26	Bosnia and Herzegovina	75.2	46.5	78.0	8.9%	86.1%	96.1%
27	Maldives	75.2	67.7	81.3	9.3%	85.2%	99.8%
28	Armenia	74.3	56.6	78.3	9.3%	81.3%	99.9%
29	Estonia	74.1	61.7	79.3	7.8%	92.2%	100.0%
30	Macedonia	74.1	44.9	76.6	7.4%	93.1%	98.2%
31	Cyprus	74.0	72.8	81.8	8.1%	89.6%	99.7%
32	Czech Republic	74.0	63.7	80.0	8.5%	87.7%	98.7%
33	Denmark	73.8	94.7	82.3	9.4%	99.8%	100.0%
34	Netherlands	73.8	95.7	82.0	10.0%	97.0%	100.0%
35	Uruguay	73.4	68.8	78.3	9.0%	92.0%	99.6%
36	China	73.2	40.6	78.0	5.9%	91.6%	96.1%
37	Belarus	72.8	42.7	74.4	7.1%	94.3%	99.9%
38	Norway	72.8	103.7	83.2	9.4%	99.0%	100.0%
39	Slovakia	72.8	58.4	78.4	7.4%	89.8%	99.8%
40	Lithuania	72.1	58.0	77.2	7.6%	89.2%	99.9%
41	Paraguay	72.1	42.0	74.0	8.4%	81.6%	99.6%
42	Tunisia	72.0	42.3	76.7	8.0%	76.5%	96.7%
43	Albania	71.9	56.2	79.8	7.1%	85.9%	95.1%
44	Latvia	71.9	55.2	76.4	7.3%	92.7%	98.8%
45	Costa Rica	71.7	69.7	81.0	6.9%	87.2%	99.8%
46	Bulgaria	71.7	48.9	75.8	7.9%	82.4%	99.2%
47	Serbia	71.6	50.3	76.0	8.0%	87.7%	95.4%
48	United Arab Emirates	71.6	78.3	83.1	5.0%	100.0%	100.0%
49	Iran	71.4	46.6	77.9	6.0%	85.3%	97.9%
50	Ecuador	71.4	40.0	77.6	7.6%	77.2%	92.1%
51	Romania	71.3	47.6	76.5	5.7%	91.3%	100.0%
52	Croatia	71.1	62.7	78.9	7.2%	83.6%	99.9%
53	Switzerland	71.1	133.4	84.4	11.7%	97.3%	100.0%
54	Hungary	71.0	57.3	76.7	6.4%	93.8%	100.0%
55	Saudi Arabia	71.0	67.2	79.0	5.7%	100.0%	99.0%
56	Peru	71.0	39.7	77.9	5.6%	82.0%	95.6%
57	Poland	70.9	57.9	78.4	8.1%	88.6%	90.1%
58	Bahrain	70.9	67.5	81.4	4.0%	100.0%	99.9%
59	Libya	70.8	27.4	71.1	7.8%	82.0%	96.4%
60	Ukraine	70.8	42.2	74.7	8.2%	82.5%	93.5%
61	Colombia	70.6	59.8	77.9	8.1%	79.4%	97.1%
62	Panama	70.4	61.3	79.8	8.3%	72.8%	95.3%
63	Morocco	70.2	39.8	75.5	6.1%	91.2%	92.2%
64	Ireland	69.8	94.1	83.0	6.9%	97.2%	97.1%
65	Uzbekistan	69.7	40.3	72.5	6.7%	89.5%	97.3%
66	Thailand	69.5	48.7	76.6	4.5%	90.9%	100.0%
67	Malaysia	69.1	51.2	76.8	4.0%	98.0%	97.9%
68	Oman	69.1	52.4	80.3	3.5%	95.3%	92.7%
69	Russia	69.0	54.5	73.4	7.0%	94.4%	96.9%
70	Georgia	69.0	48.7	74.7	6.9%	83.8%	97.3%
71	Azerbaijan	68.4	40.0	74.6	4.3%	90.8%	97.7%
72	Iraq	68.4	31.9	72.4	5.5%	81.5%	98.4%
73	Qatar	68.0	75.3	82.5	2.5%	98.1%	100.0%
74	Vietnam	67.6	42.1	74.7	4.6%	84.2%	98.8%
75	Mexico	67.3	53.5	75.3	5.5%	83.1%	99.5%
76	Algeria	67.2	34.8	76.5	4.4%	77.4%	92.4%
77	Turkey	67.1	56.2	77.4	4.3%	89.8%	96.0%
78	Dominican Republic	66.7	48.1	73.9	4.6%	91.0%	97.5%
79	Kazakhstan	66.7	48.0	74.5	3.8%	93.4%	97.8%
80	Luxembourg	66.7	110.6	83.2	5.9%	99.1%	100.0%
81	Kyrgyzstan	66.5	39.1	72.4	4.5%	92.0%	94.9%
82	Bolivia	66.5	26.8	68.7	6.9%	79.7%	93.4%
83	Trinidad and Tobago	65.9	66.8	73.6	7.5%	82.2%	99.3%
84	Egypt	65.5	31.8	71.8	4.9%	74.7%	97.3%
85	Israel	65.5	115.2	83.2	7.1%	88.2%	100.0%
86	Mauritius	65.1	50.1	73.8	5.6%	73.3%	99.9%
87	India	64.7	19.8	72.2	3.3%	70.0%	95.7%
88	Iceland	64.6	142.1	82.8	9.0%	98.2%	100.0%
89	Moldova	63.7	48.3	71.3	6.7%	77.4%	92.7%
90	Lebanon	63.7	72.0	77.9	5.6%	80.6%	92.6%
91	Nicaragua	63.5	47.9	75.1	8.3%	61.4%	83.2%
92	Tajikistan	62.4	37.2	71.9	7.4%	55.8%	89.2%
93	Brunei	62.4	70.1	75.5	2.2%	96.3%	100.0%
94	Sri Lanka	62.2	36.6	77.7	3.7%	54.6%	90.2%
95	South Africa	61.6	50.4	66.3	8.9%	78.4%	90.2%
96	Bangladesh	61.6	27.9	74.9	2.2%	53.4%	98.8%
97	Philippines	61.5	36.7	70.0	5.1%	67.3%	95.9%
98	Jamaica	61.4	72.6	71.6	7.6%	90.1%	87.6%
99	Venezuela	61.4	45.4	72.7	3.8%	76.7%	93.3%
100	Nepal	61.0	27.1	70.6	6.2%	46.3%	93.6%
101	Guatemala	59.4	62.1	72.8	6.8%	60.2%	93.2%
102	Indonesia	58.8	34.8	71.3	2.7%	72.8%	89.0%
103	Syria	57.1	32.1	72.6	2.7%	46.6%	94.1%
104	Cambodia	56.0	48.2	70.8	4.6%	68.5%	82.9%
105	Pakistan	54.8	26.5	67.8	2.5%	57.3%	90.7%
106	Ghana	54.1	37.3	65.7	3.0%	72.2%	89.9%
107	Singapore	51.2	179.2	83.4	4.5%	94.4%	100.0%
108	Zambia	44.2	38.0	66.5	6.0%	17.1%	73.4%
109	Cameroon	42.7	49.3	64.0	4.6%	46.3%	71.4%
110	Kenya	41.5	34.0	63.8	4.4%	35.0%	65.6%
111	Tanzania	41.3	35.6	67.2	3.1%	31.2%	64.6%
112	Nigeria	39.9	31.7	54.6	4.2%	41.2%	82.3%
113	Zimbabwe	39.4	40.4	63.1	2.9%	41.6%	67.2%

How We Score Countries for Retirement

Affordability is the top concern for retirees, so cost of living receives the highest weight at 30%. Life expectancy (25%) reflects healthcare quality and overall livability. Healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP (20%) indicates a country's investment in its health system. Internet access (15%) matters for staying connected with family, and drinking water access (10%) ensures basic infrastructure quality.

Metric Weights

Cost Index 30%

Life Expectancy 25%

Health Spending 20%

Internet Access 15%

Water Access 10%

Rankings use each country's most recent figures; countries need data for every metric to be included. Sources: World Bank (2016–2025), The World Factbook (2020–2022), MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Continue Reading

Best Countries for Digital Nomads

Ranked list of the best countries for digital nomads and remote workers, scored by internet access, cost of living, life expectancy, and literacy rate.

View ranking

Best Countries for Families

Ranked list of the best countries to raise a family, scored by infant mortality, life expectancy, education spending, literacy, water access, and electricity access.

View ranking

Best Countries for Healthcare

Ranked list of countries with the best healthcare systems, scored by life expectancy, infant mortality, health spending, and maternal mortality.

View ranking

Cheapest Countries to Live In

Ranked list of the cheapest countries to live in that are still livable, scored by cost of living, water access, electricity access, and internet access.

View ranking

Nice to see you!

Best Countries to Retire

Top 5 Ranked

Chile

Japan

Sweden

Chile

Japan

Sweden

Overview

Global Rankings

How We Score Countries for Retirement

Metric Weights

Continue Reading

Best Countries for Digital Nomads

Best Countries for Families

Best Countries for Healthcare

Cheapest Countries to Live In