Which are the best countries to live in, according to the indices?

What each index measures, and what it leaves out

The UNDP Human Development Index, published in the Human Development Report, combines three areas: health, measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge, from average schooling for adults and expected schooling for children; and living standards, from national income per person on a logarithmic scale. The three are combined with a geometric mean. UNDP states that the index does not capture inequality, poverty, human security or empowerment, which it covers in other composite indices. The edition we used is the 2025 report released in May 2025, with values for 2023.

The Global Peace Index is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace. The 2026 edition is the twentieth and ranks 163 countries on 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators grouped into three domains: societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarisation. A lower score means a more peaceful country. It measures the absence of violence and the fear of violence; it does not measure income, health care or how welcoming a place is to newcomers.

Two World Bank sources fill gaps. The Worldwide Governance Indicators give each country an estimate of roughly minus 2.5 to plus 2.5 for dimensions such as rule of law, and we used the 2024 values from the database updated in September 2026. The price level index for household consumption sets the United States at 100 and shows how expensive everyday life is for residents at market exchange rates. We used the 2024 values, available for 171 economies. Neither says anything about how it feels to arrive without local friends or language.

What the UNDP Human Development Index says

The table shows the top ten positions as published, including the ties that the report records. Positions are by the 2023 index value. We show life expectancy from the same UNDP data file so that you can see the health component behind each position. We do not reproduce the full table of 193 entries; the complete list is on the UNDP site.

Two features stand out. The top of the table is dominated by northern and western European countries, with Australia and Hong Kong the exceptions in these ten. And the differences are small: the gap between first and tenth place is 0.021 points on a scale from 0 to 1, so a position or two carries little meaning.

What the Global Peace Index 2026 says

In the 2026 index Iceland holds first place with a score of 1.161, and the report says it remains the most peaceful country in the world. New Zealand follows at 1.343 and Switzerland at 1.363. The table lists the top ten as published. Most of the ten are European; the others are New Zealand, Singapore and Japan.

Placing the two tables side by side is useful. Fourteen countries are in the top 25 of both the UNDP table and the Global Peace Index: Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Slovenia, Austria, Japan and Australia. Some countries with high human development, such as Germany, which is 28th on the peace index, sit lower, while others high on the peace index, such as Malaysia in 12th place and Mauritius in 18th, rank lower on human development.

Our selection: criteria and method

From here the page is our own editorial selection, not a published ranking. We applied three filters using only the sources above: a position of 65th or better in the UNDP table, a position of 65th or better in the 2026 Global Peace Index, and a World Bank rule-of-law estimate of at least 0.5 for 2024. Many countries pass all three, so we then chose eleven to give a spread of regions, including countries that are not in the very top positions.

The filters are blunt. A threshold of 65th is arbitrary, and a country just outside it is not worse in any meaningful way. We did not test any country against official travel or immigration information on this page. Africa is absent because no African country passed all three filters in the data we read. The Middle East is represented by Qatar alone, which passes the filters at 43rd in the UNDP table and 31st on the peace index; that is a statement about the filters, not a recommendation.

Reading the picks: Europe, Asia and Oceania

Switzerland is third on the peace index and joint second in the UNDP table. It also has the highest price level index among the 171 economies in the World Bank 2024 data we read, at 125.8 against 100 for the United States. That is a reminder that a high human-development position and a high price level often go together. Ireland (5th on the peace index, 11th in the UNDP table) and Slovenia (4th, 21st) also pass every filter. Their price levels are 95.5 and 62.5, so the same filters can sit alongside quite different everyday costs.

Portugal is 7th on the peace index and 40th in the UNDP table, with a price level of 60.5. Japan (10th and 23rd) and Singapore (8th and 13th) represent Asia, and New Zealand (2nd and 17th) represents Oceania. Singapore's World Bank estimates for government effectiveness (2.11 in 2024) and Japan's (2.07) were the two highest among the economies in the UNDP table. Estimates are statistical syntheses of survey data on perceptions, so they describe the aggregate, not a single neighbourhood.

Reading the picks: the Americas

Canada is 14th on the peace index and 16th in the UNDP table, with a rule-of-law estimate of 1.48. Costa Rica (62nd on both) and Uruguay (43rd on the peace index, 48th in the UNDP table) are the two Latin American picks. Costa Rica only just passes the filters: its peace index and UNDP positions are both 62nd, so it would drop out if we tightened either threshold to the top 50. Uruguay (43rd and 48th) would still pass a top-50 test on both.

Life expectancy in the World Bank 2024 series is 81.0 years for Costa Rica and 78.3 for Uruguay. Their price levels, 63.7 and 72.9, are well below Canada's 90.6. As with every figure on this page, these are national averages, and the experience of a capital city can differ from the countryside.

What the numbers miss

None of the sources above measures climate, language, tax treatment, the housing market, the quality of local schools or how easy it is to find work. They also say nothing about the rules for foreign nationals who want to live in a country. Those rules differ by nationality and change, so always read the official government pages. Examples of official portals are listed in the sources: the Canadian, Irish, Japanese, New Zealand, Swiss and Singaporean immigration authorities, plus Slovenia's government site.

Another gap is that indices describe averages over years. The UNDP values are for 2023, the World Bank governance values are for 2024, and the peace index was published in June 2026. A fast-moving situation in any country may not be reflected yet.

The first weeks or months after moving

Many people who relocate do not sign a long lease on day one. A serviced apartment or aparthotel, which is a furnished apartment with hotel-style services, is one option for the first weeks or months while you look at neighbourhoods, schools and commutes. A kitchen, a washing machine and a work table can make an extended stay more practical than a standard hotel room, and terms are usually flexible.

Our guides on serviced apartments for relocation and monthly serviced apartments explain what is typically included and what to ask before booking. The table below, built from our own catalogue, shows how many aparthotel listings we hold in each of the countries discussed.