Portugal Ranks Fourth on International Living's 2026 Retirement Index, Second for Healthcare and Climate but Marked Down on Housing

Portugal is the fourth-best country in the world to retire to, according to the 2026 Annual Global Retirement Index published by International Living, a magazine for people planning to move abroad that writes mainly for North American readers. Greece took first place this year, followed by Panama and Costa Rica. Portugal is the second-highest European country on the list, behind Greece.

The rest of the top ten is Mexico in fifth place, then Italy, France, Spain, Thailand and Malaysia. The index, now in its 35th edition, compares 24 countries.

Where Portugal scores well

Portugal comes second in two of the index's categories:

• Healthcare, behind only France. The report credits the mix of public and private care and costs well below those in the United States, while acknowledging waiting times in the public system.
• Climate, behind only Costa Rica. It highlights the difference between the north and the south, which lets newcomers choose the temperatures and outdoor life they want.

Where it loses points

Housing is the main reservation. The magazine's Porto correspondent writes that she rented a three-bedroom flat for under 1,000 euros a month when she moved at the end of 2022, but that the market has since become much more expensive. Her examples include one-bedroom flats outside the city, near a metro line, at about 1,200 euros a month, and furnished studios in the centre at 1,500 euros or more. These are her own examples, not market averages.

Jornal de Negócios, reading the same report, notes that it also describes Portugal's visa options as less attractive than they were. The report steers readers towards smaller towns and the countryside, where it says housing remains more affordable, and one property specialist it quotes picks out the coast north of Greater Porto as cheaper than the best-known destinations. Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve remain on its list, with the caveat that the choice of region changes the budget a great deal.

How the index is built

International Living scores each country on seven headings: housing, visas and benefits, cost of living, ease of settling in, healthcare, development and governance, and climate. It says the result combines data with the first-hand experience of its correspondents and contributors living in each country, and that there is a subjective element. The ranking measures how attractive a country is to foreign retirees; it says nothing about Portugal's own pension system or how Portuguese pensioners live.

Why it matters

For anyone considering retirement here, the housing warning matches the official data: Portuguese house prices are rising faster than anywhere else in the EU. The tax picture has changed too. The old NHR regime has closed to new applicants, and its replacement, explained in our NHR and IFICI guide, is aimed at specific professions rather than at pensioners; just 946 people had signed up for it by the latest count.

Anyone weighing a move should check current residence permit rules with AIMA and price housing in the specific town they have in mind, rather than relying on national rankings.