How easy is it for an expat to make friends in Ireland?iStock
Ireland has a reputation for being friendly to strangers, but is the country as welcoming as we believe?
In a survey of expats who ranked 67 countries for ‘Ease of Settling In,’ Ireland ranked 20 for friendliness and 46 on the ease of finding friends.
The Expat Insider 2016 index by InterNations surveyed more than 14,000 respondents from around the world, asking expats about the friendliness of local population, how welcome they feel, the ease of making new friends, and how easy and crucial is it to learn the local language.
On ease of settling in, Ireland came in 23 and was 28 for making expats feel welcome. The highest ranking was in language, where Ireland came in at number 10.
Mexico ranked first for both finding friends and ease of settling in. Taiwan topped the list for friendliness.
The top 25 rankings for “Friendliness” are below. You can find the full list of ranking in the report here.
1.Taiwan
2.Uganda
3.Costa Rica
4.Mexico
5.Colombia
6.Oman
7.Philippines
8.New Zealand
9.Vietnam
10.Portugal
11.Brazil
12.Spain
13.Ecuador
14.Canada
15.Romania
16.Bahrain
17.Malta
18.Indonesia
19.Ukraine
20.Ireland
21.Thailand
22.Argentina
23.Australia
24.Cyprus
25.USA
Source: indy100.independent.co.uk