Vietnam also took the lead among countries with expats’ satisfaction with personal finance index and came in 8th place in expats’ overall happiness index with their life in the foreign country. 

InterNations reviews say that Vietnam is generally a safe country for expats. The cost of living in Vietnam is lower than that in many western countries. Housing, food and transport which are the main expenses are all relatively affordable.

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, expats describe Vietnam to be full of energy and dynamism.

In the 2025 ranking, Panama retained the top spot, followed by Colombia (2), Mexico (3), Thailand (4) and Vietnam (5). China ranked 6th, with UAE, Indonesia, Spain, and Malaysia completing the top 10. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam trails only Thailand but ranks ahead of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Other notable positions include Saudi Arabia (12), Australia (19), Denmark (25), France (27), Switzerland (29), Canada (40), and the UK (41). The bottom five were Germany, Finland, the Republic ò Korea, Turkey, and Kuwait.

Currently, InterNations connects a community of more than 41,600 expats living and working in Vietnam.

HCM City comes sixth in InterNations Expat City Ranking 2021

Ho Chi Minh City has recently ranked sixth in a survey of more than 12,000 people about the best cities for expatriates to live and work in, conducted by InterNations - the largest global community for expats.