Malta Tops Expat Favourites For The Sunshine Life

The historic island of Malta isn’t just a sunny Mediterranean hotspot for British retirees, it’s also a fascinating glimpse into a time long past.

Malta’s latest triumph is its place as one of the top world countries for the sunshine life, displacing Costa Rica, Mexico and Bahrain and joining with Taiwan, and Ecuador as a favourite for the ‘pura vida’ – pure life. Placed seventh in the world in the latest poll, Malta was reported as having the best weather by nine out of ten expatriates living on the island. Increasingly, the reason for emigrating is given as a search for a better life with warm, sunny weather at the top of the list, especially for retirees.

As regards expats who’d chosen to move to Malta, some 25 per cent of those surveyed had opted for a sunny place with reliable weather year-round. Those who were considering emigrating but hadn’t yet made a destination decision believed Malta would be a positive move as regards personal health due to its laid-back lifestyle as well as its weather. Tranquillity was also high on the list of those who’d made the move, 83 per cent of whom rated the peacefulness of the island.

A number of other Mediterranean destinations were placed favourably in the survey, including Greece at number one from number five last year. Portugal and Spain also featured, along with Cyprus, and more distant locations for sunshine included Kenya, Mexico, Uganda, South Africa and Costa Rica. Out of these diverse destinations, only Greece and Cyprus answered the requirement of peace, quiet and tranquillity.

Greece’s placement may come as a surprise as, not so very long ago, the country was being described as the worst place for expats due to its political instability and rising cost of living. However, Greek expat forums and social media are defending their chosen haven, saying it’s affordable, beautiful and packed with friendly people. The general opinion of expat residents was that the negative survey result was based on far too narrow criteria and was very harsh as a result.