Australia tanks in global expat survey about best country to visit

Expats travelling the globe have revealed the best and worst countries in the world, and when it comes to a trip Down Under — visitors have noticed a big problem.

Expats around the world have lifted the lid on host countries, narrowing down the best places to visit in terms of friendliness, culture and overall experience.

A new survey ranking the friendliest — and least friendly — countries to move to for work, school, or retirement was released — with Australia trailing far from the top.

The survey was conducted by InterNations, an expat guide, which ranked 53 countries around the world by asking its residents to rate where they live.

Australia has hardly cracked the top 20 countries for being friendly, when surveyed by expats. Picture: iStock

And while some would argue Australia’s lavish coastline might be a drawcard, expats from around the world say if you’re thinking of relocating — you might want to consider Costa Rica, as it ranked Number 1 for its ease of settling in, for its culture, being made to feel welcome, and local friendliness.

Mexico didn’t fall far behind, coming in second place with 75 per cent of people who relocated claiming to have a thriving social life and more than 80 per cent felt welcomed with open arms when they decided to call Mexico home.

We may have some of the most idyllic coastline in the world, but expats say it’s tough finding a friend in Australia.

The Philippines was ranked as the third best country for expats due to its ‘free and easy lifestyle.’ According to the study, a lot of people moved here for love or retirement.

But for Australia, in most categories we didn’t even crack the top 10 or 15 — with expats ranking us in spot 20 for ‘Ease of Settling in’, 17th for ‘culture and welcome’, 20th for ‘local friendliness’ and 27th for ‘ability to find friends’.

But while Australia may not have ranked overly well in the ‘find a friend’ department, we did a lot better than Kuwait — which ranked last place once again for the 10th year in a row.

According to the survey, Kuwait is said to be difficult to make friends with the locals, and only about a quarter of expats actually feel welcome.

Kuwait has consistently be ranked as one of the most unfriendliest countries in the world, according to the InterNations survey.

Norway came in second to last, with one expat from Kenya telling InterNations that “no matter how advanced my Norwegian language skills are, I still can’t seem to make Norwegian friends.”

Another country that has consistently ranked low on this list is Germany, with 32 per cent of expats saying they don’t feel welcome and that it’s very hard to make friends.

Some other notable mentions known for being the least friendly countries are Switzerland ranking in 46th spot, and the UK ranking 42 on the list.

Last year, an Italian expat who has lived in Australia for 14 years took to social media to highlight the difficulty in developing friendships beyond a beer at the pub or a morning on the golf course.

Fabrizio Spada has noticed a difference between forming friendships in Australia compared to Italy.

Fabrizio Spada says while people were relatively friendly, it is hard to bond with Australian men on a deeper level.

“It could be a game of trivia at the pub with a group of friends, or a game of golf, or finding someone who wants to get fit,” he told SBS Insight, which will air its “Bromance” episode on Tuesday night.

A Kiwi expat, who went by the name @luckisoup on TikTok, went viral for talking about the difficulty of making friends in Australia in 2023.

“The moment the activity went away, the people went away. I literally lost friends; friends that I thought were willing to keep investing in the friendship despite or beyond the activity.”

Mr Spada’s opinion echoed that of a New Zealand expat living in Western Australia in 2023, who went viral on social media for sharing the culture shock she experienced when it came to making friends.

“I feel like since I’ve been here, I’ve tried really hard to make friendships and connect with people but it just feels like, while everyone is friendly, everyone is polite [and] they’ll ask you ‘hey, how are you? how was your weekend? what are you up to?’ – but the depth of connection they’re willing to have with you, it only goes so far,” the woman, who goes by @luckisoup, said in a TikTok clip.

Thousands of people commented on the video, with other expats sharing they too had struggled making adult friendships Down Under.

– with the New York Post