Nomad Capitalist, a consultancy that helps wealthy entrepreneurs and investors relocate and reduce their tax bills, has published its Nomad Lifestyle Index for 2026. Portugal ranks fifth out of 63, with a score of 70.09 out of 100.
The index does not cover every country in the world. The authors assessed only the destinations their clients ask about most often when deciding where to move or where to obtain residency or a second passport. France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, for example, were left out: they were not compared with the others and have no ranking.
Monaco (73.89), Andorra (73.68) and the United Arab Emirates (73.15) took the top three places. Less than a point separates them, so the authors treat the top three as tied. Malta is fourth (72.11).
Among the European countries included, only Monaco, Andorra and Malta rank above Portugal. It finished ahead of the rest: Cyprus is sixth, Switzerland tenth, Ireland 13th and Greece 24th. Spain is only 42nd, mainly because of high taxes: it scores 14 out of 100 on that measure, against Portugal’s 78. The United Kingdom is 47th and the Netherlands 50th, with the lowest tax score in the index.
Countries were rated on five equally weighted criteria: nature and climate, taxes, access to residency and citizenship, safety and freedom, and quality of life and infrastructure. According to the authors, Portugal is the only country in the top five without a single weak spot.
Portugal performs best on safety and freedom, scoring 86.1 and ranking third overall. Its options for relocation also score well (78.9): the country offers all five types of residency the authors counted, including visas for digital nomads and retirees. On taxes, Portugal scores 78, because the authors factored in a special regime for new residents under which foreign income is taxed very little. Taking into account that not everyone qualifies for it, Portugal would drop from fifth to seventh place.
Its weakest scores are for nature and climate (47.8) and quality of life (59.6). On nature, Portugal ranks lowest in the top five: it is among the countries most exposed to extreme weather, placing 27th out of 174 in a long-term climate risk ranking. The quality of life score covers life expectancy, cost of living and internet speed.
Portugal has repeatedly topped rankings for remote workers. In June 2026, the travel search service momondo placed it first out of 111 countries in its index for people who combine work and travel, citing the climate, social life, low crime, relatively affordable living costs, the digital nomad visa and widespread English. In early 2025, the guidebook publisher Lonely Planet named Portugal first on its list of the best countries for digital nomads. In rankings that weigh taxes and the economy more heavily, Portugal usually places lower: in the 2025 index by the consultancy Global Citizen Solutions, Spain came first.
The links are the same as in the Russian version. The momondo link goes to the German edition of The Portugal News; if you’d rather have an English-language source there, I can look for one.
