Finding the country to call your new home as an individual or family can be challenging, so take ample time to research countries worldwide, which is daunting, too. As a result, this post helps narrow your research by using language as a focal point to decide the top three countries to immigrate to for English speakers and non-English speakers. According to the government of Canada, language plays a vital role in the success of newcomers in building a life in their new community. Also, language is used because of its significance to us as humans in communicating and economic integration. For example, connecting with locals, employment opportunities, and learning about the culture and social services in the community. For English speakers, the top recommendations are Canada, the United States of America and Australia. These recommendations will be analyzed using critical components like the job market, cost of living, quality of life, and security, which are the necessities for a better life. Finally, other workable countries that are be comparable to put on your radar if language is not a barrier are like the top countries listed: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
Job Market: Amidst the 2019 pandemic, most countries are beginning to bounce back to their former job levels. The recent economic crisis, which has led to all-time high inflation, has cooled job growth, but there is still room for more hiring and opportunities. For example, the US infrastructure bill signed by President Biden will create up to a million jobs in the United States. The mentioned countries create so many jobs that they are finding that they struggle to fill these positions. Similarly, countries like Australia, Norway, and Denmark face challenging job markets at the time of this posting. But looking at the overall trend for these countries as they navigate the setback from the pandemic makes things less gloomy. On the other hand, Sweden has seen a slight increase in job growth from 2015 – 2023. Overall, these countries are still at the top of the list of countries to live in, according to the data from
Cost of living: The estimated cost of living in North America or Scandinavian countries differ vastly from your home due to currency differences and the high standard of living need to live a decent life there. Getting a head start on what it costs to live is imperative, like housing, healthcare, transportation, food, telecommunication services, utility bills, and taxes. The estimated dollar amount of the cost of living can be found on the country’s immigration website, and newcomers are expected to have the funds to settle in smoothly. But a job offer before arrival helps alleviate the pressure of raising the total fund because of the certainty of getting a wage shortly after bi-weekly or monthly work. Remember that within the same countries, some cities can be way more expensive than others but also have job advantages, something to consider when choosing which one works best for you.
Quality of life: Quality of life means different things to different people, just as Edward Demings defined quality as meeting the customer’s expectations, which vary from customer to customer. According to Numbeo’s quality of life index, it can be measured using purchasing power, safety, cost of living, healthcare, pollution, Traffic commute time, climate and property ratio to income. The latest ranking can vary yearly, but across multiple years, Norway, Sweden, Canada, the United States of America, Australia and Denmark have consistently emerged as the top 20 countries to meet these criteria.
Security: Every life is precious and a gift from God; hence, living in a country where one is not afraid to be out in the dark, speak freely, can use public transit, leave doors or windows unlocked, or no alarm system for one to feel safe is the ideal piece of mind is what individuals, especially those with young families would wish for. The three top countries almost perfectly fall into that category except for the United States, which didn’t reach the top 25 countries and ranked 132 in 2024 by the Global World Peace Index. Denmark ranked 8th, Canada 11th, Norway at 28, Australia 19th and Sweden 29th.
Sources
Dreamstime. (n.d.). Flags globe stock illustration. Illustration of america – 541425. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-flags-globe-image541425
Global Peace Index. (2024). Identifying and measuring the factors that drive peace. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf
IRCC. (2004). Evaluation of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program. http://Www.canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/language-instruction-newcomers-canada/findings.html
National Bank. (2018). What Is the Cost of Living in Canada? National Bank. https://www.nbc.ca/personal/advice/immigration/the-cost-of-living-in-canada.html
NBC. (2024). U.S. job market remains hot, adds 272,000 positions in May. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/may-2024-jobs-report-how-many-new-jobs-added-economy-analysis-rcna155594
O’Neill, A. (2024). Sweden: Employment 2014-2024. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/795451/employment-in-sweden/
World Population Review. (2022). Standard Of Living By Country 2020. Worldpopulationreview.com. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country
universa insight 