Viet Nam named among top 10 retirement destinations
- Tuesday - 10/02/2026 10:47
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Foreign women in Vietnamese ao dai (long dresses) for a traditional attire parade in the Old Quarters of Ha Noi on the occasion of the 2025 Lunar New Year - Photo: VNA
The country secured a place in the Top 10 thanks to its reasonable cost of living, steadily improving living conditions, and remarkable progress in infrastructure and healthcare.
Viet Nam's debut among the world's leading retirement destinations is widely seen as a positive signal, underscoring its growing appeal to the international community as cross-border retirement is expected to continue expanding in the coming years.
The index comes amid a rising number of retirees in Europe, including France, considering long-term relocation abroad to improve their quality of life, enjoy more favourable climates, and stretch retirement income. To determine the rankings, Retraite sans Frontières assessed 12 criteria, with cost of living carrying the heaviest weight, accounting for 20 per cent of the total score.
According to founder Paul Delahoutre, living overseas can help retirees cut daily expenses by 15 to 50 per cent compared with remaining in France. Other key factors include climate, healthcare quality, safety, access to services, and transport conditions.
Viet Nam was placed ninth overall, marking its first appearance in the top 10. Evaluators cited its low cost of living, diverse living environments, and healthcare and urban infrastructure that are improving at a visible pace. While living expenses remain slightly higher than in some other Asian destinations, Viet Nam is viewed as offering a balanced mix of affordability, living standards, and long-term potential.
In 2025, Viet Nam ranked fifth among best countries for expats, buoyed by high marks for affordability and personal finance, according to the annual survey Expat Insider published by global expat network InterNations.
Viet Nam topped the survey’s Personal Finance Index for the fifth year consecutively, with nearly nine in 10 respondents satisfied with the cost of living. This index measures expats' satisfaction with factors like the general cost of living, their financial situation and whether a respondent’s disposable household income is enough to lead a comfortable life./.