Greetings from Bordeaux! Maybe it’s the copious amount of amazing French butter with crunchy sea salt from happy Normandy cows on fresh baked sourdough buckwheat rye bread coursing through my veins right now. Or the recent Harvard-led study I just heard about that found that older adults with higher optimism had a meaningfully lower risk of developing dementia. But I’m embracing good news this post to counteract the once in 1000 years heatwave in France and every headline in every newspaper.
This month, we looked at data sets from the World Population Review, Visual Capitalist, and others to see where there are countries with some good news. We looked at these six dimensions — cost, happiness, health, safety, climate, and air quality. Some of this data may not be much of a surprise. But we guarantee that there’s some “woah, really?” moments here as well.
Northern Europe is the strongest “life is good” cluster, but it is also the most expensive and has the harshest winter weather.
Western Europe has the best mix of livability and value.
Eastern Europe is an emerging affordability and quality of life region.
Southeast Asia has the lowest cost of living and mega city wins.
Latin America offers strong lifestyle potential.
Note, for the purposes of this post, we’re focusing on locations outside of the US. I know there are places worth highlighting… but that’s for another day.
And for paid subscribers, we’ve included a list of the countries covered below in the text in a handy table.
Let’s dive in…..
According to Where Living Costs Are Surging Most Right Now and 2026 Global Cost of Living Index, countries like Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Egypt, Madagascar, India, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, and Fiji offer some of the lowest cost of living in the world. In Switzerland, Singapore, and Vietnam, the cost of living has remained stable with prices rising more gradually than many other countries.
On the flip side, some countries once known for low living costs are quickly losing that reputation. Mexico has seen rising prices in popular places like Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, and Playa del Carmen. Thailand, long a budget-friendly destination, is experiencing sometimes significant cost increases in rent and food in tourist-heavy regions. Spain remains relatively affordable compared to Western Europe, but cities like Barcelona are seeing upward pressure on rents and utilities and property prices in Madrid are at all time highs.
The Nordic nations still lead the pack per capita, but China and India now dominate happy headcount simply by virtue of population size.
Drilling down a bit further to the city level offers a clearer picture of where people report being the happiest:
Ranked: Countries With the Best Health Care in 2026 lists Taiwan first globally for healthcare quality while spending far less per person than the U.S. European (Netherlands #2, Austria #5) and Asian (South Korea #2, Japan #4) countries dominate the top 5 rankings thanks to broad access and efficient care systems. The top Asian countries combine universal coverage with dense hospital networks, helping drive strong public satisfaction. Nordic and Western European countries consistently score highly due to broad access, lower financial barriers, and strong patient care performance - Finland #7, Denmark #9, and Spain #10 also made the top 10. Thailand #8 and Ecuador #6 both rank surprisingly high despite spending only a fraction of what wealthier countries spend per capita on healthcare. Their rankings suggest that broad access and system efficiency can matter as much as total spending.
The Best Countries for Aging: It’s Not What You Think highlights Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Italy, Spain, and Australia for their healthcare innovation, while countries like the Netherlands and Denmark score high in life satisfaction for seniors. The future of aging seems less about traditional retirement or warm weather locales, and more about support systems.
Where Mental Health Is Improving Worldwide highlights steady progress in countries like Japan, Australia, Portugal, Canada, and Singapore — all seeing public health systems integrate mental wellness more holistically. And Finland has one of Europe’s lowest burnout rates despite high productivity.
The World’s Most Livable Climates highlights regions balancing natural geographic advantages, micro-climates, and and weather patterns: much of Spain; Italy; Portugal, and Greece; plus Medellín, Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; Nairobi, Kenya; Cape Town, South Africa; Tokyo, Japan; Mendoza, Argentina; and Central Otago, New Zealand.
The Clean Air Comeback report celebrates environmental rebound stories — notably in Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Chile, Canada, and Portugal — where emissions control policies have started to pay off. “Different cultures. Different economies. One shared lesson: air quality improves when policy is steady, boring, and enforced.”
In The Great Crime Drop Few Saw Coming, it’s noted that El Salvador and Colombia overall are experiencing major improvements. Sao Paolo, Brazil has also seen impressive gains. Spain, Portugal, and Italy have become steadily safer over the past generation.
Some of the world’s largest urban areas are also among its safest — challenging the idea that density automatically creates disorder. Asia’s safest megacities - Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore - show how strong institutions and social trust can support safety even at large scale. In Africa, Rwanda, Botswana, and Morocco are notable for their stability, lack of crime, and rising international investments (and there are plenty more than these three on the continent!).
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