The world's best countries to retire to in 2019
Charlotte Irwin
19 December 2018
Where in the world is best to retire to?
When it comes to retirement, some countries offer a much more attractive life than others. Using the Natixis Investment Managers 2018 Global Retirement Index, we count down the top 25 countries to retire to in 2019, based on factors including quality of life, income and healthcare.
25. Slovak Republic
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For the second year in a row the Slovak Republic comes in at 25, and once again it has the second highest score for overall income equality in the index, yet it has the lowest income per capita of all countries in the top 25. The country has seen improvement, with life expectancy rising, and finances reaching 18th place. But quality of life – the only area in which the Slovak Republic dropped – fell to 26th place.
24. South Korea
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South Korea dropped from 23rd to 24th in this year's index, another drop after falling from 22nd in 2016. This is in spite of some improvements on last year, with the country's finances score jumping up the rankings. However, South Korea had some of the worst quality of life scores out of the indexed countries.
23. Slovenia
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Slovenia has risen one place in the rankings since 2017. Most improvement has been seen in employment, with the country's income indicator seeing smaller, but still positive, improvement. Health has also seen a better score, rising to 22nd place. However, while Slovenia has the third highest score for bio-diversity, quite surprisingly its air quality score is the 10th lowest.
22. Japan
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Japan has come in at 22, for the second year in a row. Over the last year quality of life has seen great improvement, with each sub-index of air quality, bio-diversity, environmental factors, and happiness rising up in the rankings. However, happiness is teetering on entering into the bottom 10. Japan's finances have also dropped, driven by declines in interest rate, old age dependency and tax pressure scores.
21. France
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France has plummeted two places to 21st place since 2017. Increased life expectancy and greater health insurance provision helped the health indices, and quality of life and happiness scores have improved. But the country's overall score has fallen due to France's declining finances.
20. Malta
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Malta moves up one place to 20th this year, with its overall score hitting 71%. Most of this improvement has been driven from better scores in finances, material well being and quality of life indexes. However, despite this there has been a slight decline in health due to a drop in the life expectancy indicator.
19. Israel
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Israel has popped into 19th place, up on its ranking of 20th in 2017. One of the key improvements was in the country's material well being, which in turn was boosted by growth in income equality. At the same time – unsurprisingly – the country's finances also improved. That said the country's health rating has taken a turn, and life expectancy has dropped out of the top 10.
18. Belgium
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After a consistent few years Belgium has tumbled three places in the rankings since 2017. However, it's not all bad news as this is largely due to competition with similar-scoring countries. In fact, the only area to experience a drop was finances. While sectors such as health, quality of life, and material well being all saw growing scores.
17. United Kingdom
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Despite uncertainties caused by Brexit, the UK has risen one place to 17th. The country has seen improved scores in material well being, health and quality of life, with its top ranking area being the latter.
16. United States
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The United States has moved up one place to 16th. Material well being and finances have both improved on 2017, helping the country to rise through the ranks. That said, health has fallen slightly, driven by dropping life expectancy and quality of life is now at 77%, coming down from 78%.
15. Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic jumped one place to 15th. The eastern European country ranks in the top 10 overall for employment and income equality, and while it doesn't rank in the top 10 for any of its health indicators, there has been improvement.
14. Austria
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Austria has dropped one place to 14th and makes it into the top 10 for quality of life (8th), health (9th) and material well being (7th). However, while material well being is in the top 10 it has seen a drop on 2017's score. Not only that but a decline in the country's finances, notably with tax pressure which is the fifth-worst among all countries, has contributed to the overall decline.
13. Germany
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Germany has experienced a dramatic fall, dropping out of the top 10 from 7th to 13th place in the past year, with its score decreasing from 77% to 75%. The main reason? A fall in it finances from 21st place to 34th, driven largely by its interest rate indicator.
12. Finland
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Finland stays in 12th place for the second year in a row, although its score has a slight drop from 76% to 75%. This is down to a fall in finances, with the country's bank non-performing loans tripling between 2007 and 2012. Finland also has the fourth worst tax pressure, ninth worst interest rate indicator, and third worst old-age dependency out of the Global Retirement Index countries.
11. Luxembourg
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Luxembourg has dropped one place in the ranking, despite maintaining its 76% score from last year. The country's dropping out of the top 10 has been driven by declines in material well being, health and finances. However, the country has seen improvement in its employment indicator score.
10. Netherlands
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The Netherlands slipped one place to 10th. This decline was mostly down to a drop in finances from 24th to 31st, after five-year real interest rates dropping below zero. But in some good news, Finland's material well being jumped into the top 10, rising from 11th to 5th.
9. Canada
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Canada has broken into the top 10, rising two places this year. The country has gained ground in its rankings for quality of life (8th), finances (9th) and material well being (22nd). Canada also comes 8th in the rankings for health, despite a slight decline on its 2017 score in the category.
8. Denmark
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Denmark remains in 8th place, after rising four places to the spot in 2017, and keeps its score of 77%. For the third year in a row the country has the highest quality of life score out of all the global retirement index countries, and in the last year has improved its air quality and environmental factors scores.
7. Ireland
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In the biggest jump of 2018's rankings, Ireland leapt seven places to 7th, with its score rising to 77% from 74% last year. In 2018 the country has moved into the top 10 for finances, with tax pressure showing great improvement. Ireland has also seen great improvement in material well being, with unemployment dropping to 6.2% as of 2017, and income equality also seeing improvement.
6. Australia
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Australia has retained its sixth place, with a consistent score of 78%. It performs particularly well in the finances index, sitting in 4th place, with strong performance in inflation and tax pressure indicators. While Australia takes the top spot for air quality overall, it has dropped out of the top 10 for quality of life (11th) with bio-diversity and happiness falling from 2017's scores.
5. New Zealand
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New Zealand remains in 5th place but has seen its score falter slightly, falling from 80% to 78%. It has seen drops across all indexes, apart from finances, which remain strong and have taken the top spot out of all countries. Quality of life is rated highly too, with air quality and happiness indicators in the top 10.
4. Sweden
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Sweden finds itself in 4th place for the second year in a row, but its score has fallen from 80% to 78%. Despite its high rank the country has seen decline in material well being (15th), quality of life (6th) and finances (20th). But Sweden's health score of 5th place is an improvement on 2017 due to life expectancy, which is now the eighth-highest out of the index.
3. Norway
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Norway has not only fallen off the top spot, but has dropped to 3rd place. Its overall score has fallen from 86% to 81%, which is largely due to decreases in finances from 9th to 28th, and material well being falling to 2nd place. But 3rd place is still high, and Norway has seen improved scores for health (3rd) and quality of life (4th).
2. Iceland
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Iceland has risen from 3rd to 2nd place, seeing its score rise from 82% to 84%. This reflects the improvements in material well being which is now in top place, finances in at 11th, and health which is 12th. It has seen quality of life drop to 7th, but that still remains in the top 10.
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1. Switzerland
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Switzerland has knocked Norway off the top spot, with a score if 84%. The country ranks highly in all indices, coming in the top 10 for all: quality of life (3rd), finances (5th), material well being (4th) and health (7th). Quality of life's 3rd place ranking shows where Switzerland really excels, and it has been boosted by improvements in air quality and environmental factor indicators.
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