Quick answer
Key facts
- 24 countries covered by the existing retirement-visa dataset
- Portugal ranks #1 retirement-specific composite, not generic QoL
- Healthcare 30% the heaviest headline dimension
- Cost + visa access included because pension income and eligibility bind
- CC BY 4.0 free JSON and CSV redistribution
Best countries to retire abroad: top 5
Formula: affordability (20%) + healthcare (30%) + safety (20%) + lifestyle/climate (15%) + verified visa accessibility (15%). Visa cells retain their source confidence; no new threshold figures are introduced.
| Rank | Country | Retirement score | Cost | Healthcare | Safety | Visa | Visa status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Portugal | 85/100 | 56 | 92 | 96 | 93 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum |
| #2 | Malta | 79/100 | 53 | 95 | 90 | 50 | Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules |
| #3 | Cyprus | 75/100 | 51 | 88 | 51 | 97 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum |
| #4 | Costa Rica | 74/100 | 67 | 83 | 61 | 95 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule |
| #5 | Spain | 74/100 | 48 | 100 | 78 | 49 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule |
All covered countries ranked for retirement abroad
D7 (Passive Income / Retirement) · Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum
Malta Retirement Programme (MRP) · Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules
Category F Permanent Residence (Reg. 5(f)) · Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum
Pensionado (Rentista alt.) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Temporary Residence — Pensionado · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Temporary Stay — Other Purposes · Verify — financial requirement not published; verify with the consulate
Temporary Residence — Pensioner / Rentista · No fixed income minimum published; verify current programme rules
Elective Residence Visa (ERV) · Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum
MM2H (Silver tier) · Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules
Pensionado (Jubilado) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Resident Rentista · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Long-stay Visitor (visiteur) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Financially Independent Person (FIP) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Legal Permanent Residence (Rentista / Pensionado) · No fixed income minimum published; verify current programme rules
Qualified Retirement Program (QRP) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Non-Immigrant O-A (Long Stay) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Short-Term Residence Permit (Property Owner) · Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules
Migrant (M) Visa — Pensioner · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Pensioner (Jubilado) / Rentista · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
SRRV Classic · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Short-Term Residence Permit (Property Owner) · Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules
Silver Hair Retirement KITAS (E33E) · Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum
Temporary Resident (economic solvency) · Verified — source-backed or statutory rule
Affordability and value lens (not the headline retirement score)
This secondary value view tilts more heavily toward cost (40%) while retaining healthcare, safety, lifestyle and visa accessibility. It is useful for pension-income planning, but it is deliberately labeled separately so a low-cost country is not mistaken for the universally “best” retirement destination.
| Value rank | Country | Value score | Headline rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Portugal | 78/100 | #1 |
| #2 | Malaysia | 76/100 | #10 |
| #3 | Argentina | 74/100 | #6 |
| #4 | Croatia | 73/100 | #7 |
| #5 | Malta | 73/100 | #2 |
| #6 | Costa Rica | 71/100 | #4 |
| #7 | Thailand | 70/100 | #17 |
| #8 | Chile | 69/100 | #8 |
| #9 | Georgia | 69/100 | #18 |
| #10 | Panama | 69/100 | #11 |
Safest countries to retire abroad
This sub-table sorts the same covered countries by the engine’s normalized safety dimension only. It is a safety lens, not a replacement for the retirement composite.
| Safety rank | Country | Safety score | Headline rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Portugal | 96/100 | #1 |
| #2 | Malta | 90/100 | #2 |
| #3 | Malaysia | 88/100 | #10 |
| #4 | Croatia | 80/100 | #7 |
| #5 | Spain | 78/100 | #5 |
| #6 | Italy | 73/100 | #9 |
| #7 | Uruguay | 69/100 | #15 |
| #8 | Chile | 63/100 | #8 |
| #9 | Greece | 63/100 | #14 |
| #10 | Costa Rica | 61/100 | #4 |
Retirement visa thresholds and confidence labels
Native amounts, basis notes, checked dates and source labels come directly from the existing provenance-verified retirement-visa module. “Verify” and “Modeled” are intentional—not missing data silently converted into a precise figure.
| Country | Visa | Native threshold | USD/mo model | Status | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | D7 (Passive Income / Retirement) | 920 EUR/mo | $1,069 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum | Tied to the Portuguese minimum wage (€920/mo, 2026) — consular practice, not a single statutory figure | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Malta | Malta Retirement Programme (MRP) | Deposit/property driven | — | Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules | Pension-composition test (pension ≥75% of chargeable income) + minimum tax — not an income floor | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Cyprus | Category F Permanent Residence (Reg. 5(f)) | 9,568 EUR/yr | $927 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum | Statutory floor ~€9,568/yr — officers expect meaningfully more in practice | 2026-06-25 · 2026-07-11 |
| Costa Rica | Pensionado (Rentista alt.) | 1,000 USD/mo | $1,000 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Current Pensionado law art. 81 — $1,000/mo lifetime pension; Rentista regulation art. 99 — $2,500/mo stable monthly income for at least two years | 2026-10-07 · 2026-10-07 |
| Spain | Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) | 2,400 EUR/mo | $2,789 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | 400% of IPREM (€600/mo, 2026) | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Argentina | Temporary Residence — Pensionado | 1,919,000 ARS/mo | $1,252 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Five Salarios Mínimo Vital y Móvil: ARS 383,800/month from September 2026 under Resolution 4/2026; the pensionado threshold is 5× SMVM. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Croatia | Temporary Stay — Other Purposes | Deposit/property driven | — | Verify — financial requirement not published; verify with the consulate | Croatia has no dedicated retirement or pensioner residence route for third-country nationals; its Interior Ministry lists temporary stay for 'other purposes' and accepts a pension statement or bank statement as proof of means. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Chile | Temporary Residence — Pensioner / Rentista | Deposit/property driven | — | No fixed income minimum published; verify current programme rules | SERMIG requires a regular pension or rent sufficient for basic needs according to Ministry of Social Development indicators; it publishes no fixed monetary threshold. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Italy | Elective Residence Visa (ERV) | 31,000 EUR/yr | $3,002 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum | Consular benchmark of about €31,000/yr per applicant (Boston: more than €31,000; Washington: about €31,000; Vancouver: €31,000 after tax); DM 11 May 2011 Annex A §13 sets the floor at three times the annual Table A subsistence amount | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Malaysia | MM2H (Silver tier) | Deposit/property driven | — | Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules | The 2024 overhaul REMOVED the income requirement — qualification is deposit + property | 2026-09-23 · 2026-09-23 |
| Panama | Pensionado (Jubilado) | 1,000 USD/mo | $1,000 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Decreto Ley 3 de 2008 — $1,000/mo lifetime pension ($750 if you own Panamanian property >$100k) | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Peru | Resident Rentista | 1,000 USD/mo | $1,000 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones: permanent net foreign income of at least US$1,000/month. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| France | Long-stay Visitor (visiteur) | 1,478 EUR/mo | $1,718 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | CESEDA art. L426-20: resources at least equal to the annual net SMIC (€1,477.93/mo net since 2026-06-01, +2.41% inflation trigger — info.gouv.fr) — refloats with the SMIC | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Greece | Financially Independent Person (FIP) | 3,500 EUR/mo | $4,068 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Fixed by Ministerial Decision 225679/2024 (Law 5038/2023) | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Uruguay | Legal Permanent Residence (Rentista / Pensionado) | Deposit/property driven | — | No fixed income minimum published; verify current programme rules | Uruguay's National Migration Directorate requires a notarised certificate of the foreign rent, retirement or pension income and how it is received in Uruguay; it publishes no fixed monetary floor. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Belize | Qualified Retirement Program (QRP) | 2,000 USD/mo | $2,000 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Belize Tourism Board: US$2,000/month or US$24,000/year retirement income from outside Belize. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Thailand | Non-Immigrant O-A (Long Stay) | 65,000 THB/mo | $2,000 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | Thai MFA: THB 65,000/month income, THB 800,000 deposit, or a combination totalling THB 800,000/year | 2026-09-18 · 2026-09-18 |
| Georgia | Short-Term Residence Permit (Property Owner) | Deposit/property driven | — | Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules | Georgia has no dedicated pensioner permit. Its short-term residence permit is available for non-agricultural property valued above US$150,000 equivalent in GEL. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Colombia | Migrant (M) Visa — Pensioner | 5,252,715 COP/mo | $1,672 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | 3× the monthly minimum wage (SMMLV COP 1,750,905 in 2026 → COP 5,252,715 ≈ $1,672 at the 4 Sep 2026 TRM) — salary-indexed and refloats every January | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Ecuador | Pensioner (Jubilado) / Rentista | 1,446 USD/mo | $1,446 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | 3× the SBU (Ecuador minimum wage $482, 2026) — re-floats every January | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Philippines | SRRV Classic | 800 USD/mo | $800 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | PRA — $800/mo pension (single) / $1,000/mo with dependents, to qualify for the lower deposit | 2026-09-06 · 2026-09-06 |
| Türkiye | Short-Term Residence Permit (Property Owner) | Deposit/property driven | — | Modeled — deposit/property driven; verify current programme rules | Türkiye has no dedicated retirement permit. A short-term permit may be available to foreign owners of a home used for residence; the migration authority publishes no fixed applicant income floor for this category. | 2026-09-19 · 2026-09-19 |
| Indonesia | Silver Hair Retirement KITAS (E33E) | 3,000 USD/mo | $3,000 | Verify — benchmark/secondary figure, not a guaranteed legal minimum | E33E 'Silver Hair' golden-visa retirement route — figure secondary (no single published government threshold) | 2026-06-25 · 2026-07-11 |
| Mexico | Temporary Resident (economic solvency) | 79,771 MXN/mo | $4,727 | Verified — source-backed or statutory rule | 680 UMA-days of monthly income over the last 6 months (Lineamientos generales para la expedición de visas; 2026 UMA MXN 117.31) — consulate sheets quote about $4,342–4,510 | 2026-10-07 · 2026-10-07 |
Methodology and sources
The headline Retirement Abroad Index formula is affordability/cost (20%), healthcare (30%), safety (20%), lifestyle/climate (15%), and verified visa accessibility (15%). Cost, healthcare, safety and lifestyle are the existing normalized scoring-engine dimensions. Visa accessibility is an inverse comparison of the existing retirement-visa module’s USD/month values; deposit/property-driven rows receive a neutral modeled score of 50 and retain their explicit verify/modeled label. No external figures are added here.
Scores are comparative 0–100 planning signals, not legal advice or a guarantee of visa eligibility. Visa thresholds re-float and consular practice changes; check the linked source and relevant authority before acting.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best countries to retire abroad in 2026?
This retirement-specific index ranks Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, Chile, Italy, Malaysia and the other covered destinations using affordability, healthcare, safety, lifestyle/climate and verified visa access — 24 countries with a sourced retirement route, updated July 2026.
Why does this differ from a generic quality-of-life ranking?
Affordability and visa access matter for retirees because pension income and residence eligibility are binding constraints. A generic quality-of-life ranking can elevate expensive countries with excellent systems, while this retirement index gives cost 20% and verified visa accessibility 15% alongside healthcare, safety and lifestyle.
How is the Retirement Abroad Index calculated?
The headline score uses the existing normalized WhereNext engine dimensions: cost 20%, healthcare 30%, safety 20%, lifestyle/climate 15%, and visa accessibility 15%. Visa accessibility is an inverse comparison of the existing retirement-visa dataset's USD/month figures; deposit-driven rows receive a neutral modeled score and retain a verify label rather than an invented income threshold.
Are the visa thresholds legal guarantees?
No. Each cell keeps the underlying official, statutory-basis, consular-benchmark or secondary confidence label. Rows without current native verification metadata, including the unaudited retirement allowlist, are marked Verify; deposit/property-driven rows are marked Modeled. Confirm the current rule with the relevant authority before acting.
Suggested citation
CC BY 4.0This dataset is free to redistribute, quote, and embed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. The composite form below preserves source lineage so AI assistants can cite both WhereNext and the underlying institutional publishers.
WhereNext composite — Retirement Abroad Index 2026 (2026-07-10). Derived from: WhereNext scoring engine; WhereNext Retirement & Passive-Income Visa Requirements 2026. Available at https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.
WhereNext. (2026). Retirement Abroad Index 2026. Retrieved from https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.
WhereNext. "Retirement Abroad Index 2026." WhereNext, 10 Jul 2026, https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. Accessed via https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.
@misc{wherenext_getwherenext_com_data_retirement_abroad_index_2026,
author = {{WhereNext}},
title = {Retirement Abroad Index 2026},
year = {2026},
url = {https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation},
note = {CC BY 4.0}
}<a href="https://getwherenext.com/data/retirement-abroad-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation">WhereNext — Retirement Abroad Index 2026</a>
Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Please attribute WhereNext and link to this page. Compare with the Quality of Life Index.
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