Estonia's digital life again rated world's best by InterNation global expat community

  • 2019-09-06
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN – InterNation, the largest global network of expatriates, has once again recognized Estonia as having the best digital life in the world.  

Members of the network were asked to assess the quality of digital life in different countries in the following categories: unlimited access to online services, such as social media, e-services provided by the state, the complexity of acquiring a phone number, availability of cashless payments and access to fast internet,

The global expat community determined that Estonia's internet access and the state's e-services were the best among the 68 countries assessed. The option to pay without cash virtually everywhere was also rated highly. Estonia also won the digital life portion of the previous similar survey published by InterNation in spring this year. In 2019, the country managed to further improve its score when it comes to the online availability of administrative/government services. In 2019, 79 percent are very satisfied with this factor, compared to 70 percent in 2018 and only 22 percent worldwide.

Estonia was followed in the digital life category by Finland, Singapore and New Zealand.

In 2019, the Expat Insider survey includes 64 countries and territories with a minimum of 75 respondents each. The Quality of Life Index covers various factors from six different subcategories: leisure options, health and well-being, safety and security, personal happiness, travel and transportation, and digital life. The latter was first introduced in 2018. Respondents rate factors on a scale from one to seven.

In the survey for 2019, Portugal, Spain, and Taiwan remained the top 3 countries to live for expats, but had traded places with each other. Qatar, Poland, and Hungary showed the biggest improvement in the Quality of Life Index, while Finland was popular for its healthcare system. The happiest expats live in Ecuador, and Oman is appreciated for its safety and security. Singapore is popular for its travel opportunities and infrastructure.

InterNations, the largest global expat community, offers opportunities for international networking through local events and provides location specific information. InterNation has around 3.5 million members in 420 cities all over the world.