International Living’s 2025 Annual Global Retirement Index named Panama the world’s top retirement destination, followed by Portugal and Costa Rica. Its top 10 is a useful historical shortlist—not a universal recommendation or proof that a country will suit your budget, health needs, citizenship, or residency eligibility.
What were the top 10 places to retire in 2025?
The following order is from International Living’s 2025 Annual Global Retirement Index, as reproduced in The Good Life magazine’s March/April 2025 issue.
| 2025 rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Panama |
| 2 | Portugal |
| 3 | Costa Rica |
| 4 | Mexico |
| 5 | France |
| 6 | Spain |
| 7 | Malaysia |
| 8 | Greece |
| 9 | Italy |
| 10 | Thailand |
International Living said its 2025 Index compared 20 handpicked countries using seven categories. The magazine account names cost of living, visas and benefits, climate, healthcare, housing, and ease of integration, but does not identify the seventh category in the excerpt. Those criteria help explain the ranking’s scope; they do not establish how every country performs for a particular retiree.
How much should you trust a retirement-country ranking?
Use the list to generate destinations to investigate, not to choose where to move. The ranking reflects one publisher’s criteria and a 2025 snapshot. A separate 2026 destination guide uses a different set and order of countries, underscoring that results depend on the publisher, year, and factors being weighed.
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International Living executive editor Jennifer Stevens described the Index’s aim as helping retirees make informed decisions about their options abroad. That is a useful way to treat the ranking: as a starting point for comparison, not a personalized financial, legal, medical, or safety recommendation. The 2025 coverage does not establish your eligibility for a visa, the healthcare you can access, or your likely total spending.
Why did Panama rank first?
The 2025 coverage highlighted Panama’s range of city, mountain, and beach settings, along with its Pensionado program, healthcare, and affordability. Its reported visa and cost figures are historical claims in magazine coverage, not verified current rules or a standardized cost survey.
Rank #2
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Reported Pensionado income thresholds and discounts
The Good Life reported that Panama’s Pensionado program required at least $1,000 a month in verifiable pension income for an individual, or $1,250 for a couple. It also described discounts including 50% off movie tickets, 25% off power bills, and 20% off prescriptions. These are figures and benefit descriptions reported in 2025; confirm current eligibility, legal scope, and application with the relevant Panamanian authorities before relying on them.
Jessica Ramesch, identified in the coverage as IL Panama editor, said the program was designed to help retired Panamanians live active, socially engaged lives. That description speaks to the program’s stated purpose; it does not determine whether an applicant qualifies or whether its benefits fit a particular household.
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The magazine account estimated that a couple could live comfortably in Panama on $2,500–$3,000 a month, describing the budget as covering rent, dining, entertainment, and utilities. It did not provide a standardized methodology, specify a single city or housing choice, or establish that the estimate fits every couple. Treat it as a reported planning reference, not a guaranteed cost of living.
How do the reported budgets compare?
A later guide’s figures can help illustrate how strongly estimates depend on location and household assumptions. Retire Destinations’ 2026 guide reports the following monthly estimates; they are the guide’s estimates, not official national cost data, and they are not directly comparable because the locations and household assumptions differ.
Rank #4
| Source and date | Location and household context | Reported monthly estimate | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Living coverage reproduced by The Good Life, 2025 | Panama; couple | $2,500–$3,000 | Coverage says this includes rent, dining, entertainment, and utilities; it does not give a standardized budget method. |
| Retire Destinations, 2026 | Lisbon or the Algarve; one person | $1,800–$2,200 | Guide estimate; not official cost data. |
| Retire Destinations, 2026 | Chiang Mai; household assumption not specified here | $1,100 | Guide estimate; do not infer a household size. |
| Retire Destinations, 2026 | Boquete or Panama City; household assumption not specified here | $1,500–$1,900 | Guide estimate; the listed areas and household assumptions differ from the 2025 Panama couple estimate. |
Before comparing any two estimates, check whether both cover the same household size, housing standard, location, healthcare costs, transport, utilities, and discretionary spending. A national average can also conceal large differences between a capital, a smaller city, and a coastal or highland community.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should you choose among the countries?
Start with your own constraints, then compare specific cities or regions rather than treating a country as one uniform place. The most useful comparison is the one that tests both whether you can move there and whether the day-to-day life is financially and practically workable.
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- Budget: Build a monthly estimate for the exact location and household. Include housing, food, utilities, transport, healthcare and insurance, travel to visit family, and an emergency margin. Check what a published estimate includes before using it.
- Residency: Confirm eligibility for your citizenship, pension type, income, age, and documentation with current official immigration guidance. Do not assume a ranking article’s visa threshold or benefit description remains valid.
- Healthcare: Find out what care is available where you would live and what coverage a non-citizen can actually obtain. A country’s appearance in a healthcare-related ranking does not establish access, affordability, or suitability for your own needs.
- Safety: Assess the particular area and circumstances that matter to you. A comparison tool may include a safety measure, but one rating cannot guarantee safety across a whole country or for every person.
- Climate and geography: Decide whether you want a Mediterranean, tropical, coastal, or highland setting, and consider how that preference affects the locations you compare.
- Language and daily life: Consider whether you can manage routine services, transport, and community life in the local language. English use and ease of integration are related questions, but they are not interchangeable.
- Family and personal ties: Factor in distance from family, travel practicality, and how much you value maintaining existing relationships and routines.
A separate comparison tool evaluates monthly cost, healthcare, safety, visa ease, English use, internet quality, and climate. These are sensible comparison questions, but they should not be mistaken for the seven categories in International Living’s 2025 Index.
What to verify before acting on the 2025 list
Because the ranking and Panama figures are from 2025, confirm time-sensitive details before committing money or making a move. Use current government sources for immigration and benefits rules, and obtain location-specific information about healthcare access and likely household costs. For a consequential decision, consider qualified advice on immigration, tax, and health coverage for the relevant countries; the ranking itself does not answer those individual questions.
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