While a move abroad can do wonders for your career or quality of life, it’s important to consider how your own personal and familial circumstances match up to the benefits that each country has to offer, ensuring the local environment suits your family setup is essential.

Moving abroad with your family can be a stressful process, as a lot of planning is required, from organising accommodation in advance and adapting to a new language to arranging important financial elements, like health insurance. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of which country is best for this move, but some countries do perform slightly better than others overall.

Top 10 Best Countries to Raise a Family:

  1. Portugal
  2. Sweden
  3. Italy
  4. Spain
  5. Finland
  6. Latvia
  7. Hungary
  8. Japan
  9. France
  10. Estonia


Portugal ranked in first place, with a Family Relocation Score of 6.33, making it the best country to raise a family in the OECD. While the country performed well across the board, it excelled in financial factors. Families in Portugal benefit from affordable childcare, which costs on average 5 percent of household income, and the average monthly cost of essential utilities is quite low at €110.

Sweden secured second place in the rankings, with a Family Relocation Score of 6.26. The Scandinavian country is an attractive proposition for families, boasting some of the most affordable childcare, averaging 4 percent of household income, and 10 of the world’s top universities, providing plenty of opportunities for when your children reach adulthood.

Credits: envato elements; Author: Grigory_bruev;

Sweden also has one of the lowest average annual hours worked at 1,440.5, which indicates a better work-life balance than in other countries with more time to spend with your family.

Italy recorded the third-highest Family Relocation Score of 6.22 out of 10. While this warm Mediterranean country is a popular holiday destination, it also holds a lot of opportunities for your children’s futures, with the third-highest number of world-class universities.


Parents in Italy also benefit from having the joint-lowest cost of childcare, easing the pressure on their household finances and making a potential move abroad less stressful.

Credits: envato elements; Author: BGStock72;

The data for this report was collected between 25/01/24 and 28/02/24, with the criteria for the Family Relocation Score depending on childcare costs, top universities, maternity and paternity leave, average working hours, child-friendly attractions, education attainment, cost of a one-way flight, rental price in and out of the city centre and average utility price. Each factor was normalised out of 10 before taking an average of those scores to get an overall score for each country.