An IMGlobalWealth.news Report
Estonia Tops 2026 Relocation Ranking as Malta and St Kitts & Nevis Enter Global Top 10
Estonia has emerged as the world’s leading destination for people considering relocation, narrowly beating Singapore and Malaysia in the 2026 Rumavi Global Relocation Index. Malta places tenth, while St Kitts and Nevis ranks eighth.
The index gives Estonia a score of 72.8, just ahead of Singapore on 72.6 and Malaysia on 72.0. Portugal ranks fourth, followed by Taiwan, Lithuania, Hong Kong, St Kitts and Nevis, Czechia and Malta. (Rumavi)
Rumavi’s methodology is broader than a conventional quality-of-life league table. It assesses 192 countries and territories across 24 indicators, grouped into four pillars: financial and tax conditions; liveability and health; safety and stability; and settling and opportunity. Measures include cost of living, taxation, healthcare, housing affordability, political stability, property rights, visa accessibility, education and business opportunity. (Rumavi)
That helps explain some striking results. Australia ranks 29th, Canada 41st and the UK 49th, while the United States falls to 107th, with a score of 60.0. The index rewards countries able to combine affordability, personal security and workable residence options, rather than simply high incomes or large economies.
The findings should nevertheless be read for what they are: a relocation index, not a definitive measure of national wellbeing.
The 2026 World Happiness Report, based largely on people’s own assessments of their lives, ranks Malta 43rd and Estonia 46th, while Finland remains the world’s happiest country. (World Happiness Report) The Economist Intelligence Unit takes yet another approach, measuring cities rather than countries. Its 2026 Global Liveability Index places Copenhagen first, ahead of Vienna and Melbourne. (The Economist Group)
Different methodologies therefore produce very different winners. Rumavi’s results suggest that, for internationally mobile families, entrepreneurs and retirees, smaller countries offering competitive costs, relative safety and accessible relocation pathways can compete strongly with the world’s largest economies.
For Malta and St Kitts and Nevis, both inside the global top ten, that is a particularly notable result.
