Why Greece is now the world’s best place to retire
Humans are living 20 years longer than they did in 1950 and a growing number of people are choosing to spend their later decades abroad.
Selling up your home and leaving friends and family behind for a new life overseas is a major move which requires serious research before taking the plunge.
The monthly magazine and website International Living has just released its Annual Global Retirement Index, which evaluates the world’s top destinations for retirees across categories including cost of living, healthcare, housing, visas, climate, and ease of integration.
The new No.1 for 2026 is a sun-soaked country in Southern Europe whose thousands of picturesque islands have made it a tourism hot spot, but International Living says it has everything it takes for a permanent stay as well.
“Greece’s rise to number one marks a shift in Europe’s retirement landscape,” says Jennifer Stevens, executive editor of International Living. “For years, Portugal and Spain led the way, but recent visa changes and rising costs have retirees looking elsewhere. Greece now offers what many are seeking — a beautiful, welcoming, and affordable European base with accessible residency options and a lifestyle that feels rich in every sense.”
Here’s a look at the top 10 countries in the 2026 index, which is based on recent data, plus input from International Living’s global network of more than 200 experts and expats.
Greece
Greece’s Golden Visa program, granting a residence permit to foreigners making a minimum real estate investment of 250,000 euros (about $290,000), is one of Europe’s most accessible, says International Living. It also scored highly on climate, healthcare and housing.
Patricia Mahan and Dan Matarazzo, from the US, bought a two-bedroom house for $150,000 in Kritsa, a village in Crete, in 2023. “We wanted to move by the sea,” Mahan told CNN last year. “In an affordable place.”
The other priorities that influenced their decision were that they “wanted village life” but “needed to be near amenities like state-of-the-art medical facilities, a nearby airport, weekly farmers’ markets and supermarkets and stores of all kinds to furnish our house.”
Panama
Panama
Panama is the frontrunner across all countries in the index’s visa/retiree benefits category. It has long been courting US retirees and its Pensionado Program offers impressive perks: 50% off entertainment, 30% off transport, 25% off airfares, 15% off medical bills, and discounts on everything from electricity to eating out.
“Panama’s healthcare system rivals the US in quality — without the price tag,” the International Index report says. “A hospital stay that might cost $30,000 in Miami could be $3,200 here, including CT scans and medication.”
CNN Travel chose Panama as one of our best destinations to visit in 2024. We praised Panama City as the only world capital with a tropical rainforest within its city limits and also highlighted its old quarter, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The country also holds over a dozen national parks, including Parque Nacional Volcán Barú, the highest point in Panama.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica was No. 1 in the index’s climate category and this is a country that takes its environment seriously. A full 25% of its landmass is protected rainforest, says International Living, and 99% of its power is from renewable energy. “It’s also one of the few nations to reverse deforestation, home now to 10,000 plant species and 850 kinds of birds,” the publication says.
Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula is one of only five “blue zones” in the world, regions renowned for the longevity of their residents. While not yet at retirement age, US woman Kema Ward-Hopper moved with her family to Pueblo Nuevo in Nicoya in 2018, after she underwent treatment for breast cancer.
“The health benefits of the blue zone, I think, show up later in life,” she told CNN in 2025. “But we have noticed that we feel better when we’re here. Our cardiac health and lung health seems to be better.”
Portugal
Portugal is second only to France in the index’s healthcare category and also scores highly on climate and development/governance.
The country has ended its Golden Visa program for residential property development, but other investment visas remain. International Living says that for most retirees interested in moving to the country, “the standard D7 “passive income” visa is ideal — requiring proof of steady income rather than large investments (as little as $1,011 per month).”
Seattle woman Cynthia Wilson and her husband Craig Bjork were approved for the D7 visa and in 2022 they moved to the small town of Marinha Grande, located on the Silver Coast close to the famous surfing beach Nazaré.
“I will return to the US in an urn,” Wilson told CNN in 2024. “For Americans, it is cheaper to live here, if you don’t live in Lisbon, Porto or the Algarve. Those places are like trying to live in San Francisco or Manhattan.”
