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For anyone relocating overseas, there’s a lot to consider – from job prospects to culture and healthcare. But for families looking to make a move, safety and education in a country are among the most important factors.
Remitly, an American money transfer service, has launched a new immigration index that ranks 82 countries across 24 different categories, from healthcare quality to economic strength to safety metrics.
With an “impressive” education system and “incredibly low” childcare costs, Sri Lanka took the top spot as the world’s most family-friendly country.
The immigration index assessed the quality and accessibility of education in each nation, using a statistics score from Radboud University on the average years of schooling adults have completed and the expected years of schooling for children in each country.
Alongside the annual cost of childcare in each country, a family-friendly score was then calculated out of 100.
Sri Lanka and its beaches, tea plantations and sacred rituals have long been celebrated for its welcoming people and family-friendly hotels.
The island nation in south Asia scored 63 overall, with childcare costs of just $354.60 (£274) per annum.
In second, Sweden’s (52.6) high education score and “moderate” childcare costs were closely followed by Norway (51.2) in third.
With education scores of 0.9 out of one, New Zealand (50.9) and Iceland (50.9) also made the top five family-friendly spots.
Despite annual childcare costs of $5,347.40 and $3,948.10 respectively, Germany and Finland were praised for “highly regarded” education systems, scoring 50.8 and 50.3 as their total family scores.
Rounding off the top 10, Denmark (49.9), Australia (49.7) and the US (49.5) ranked for their “excellent” education systems, but fell short for high childcare expenses between $6,218.30 and $16,439.40 per year.
The UK did not make the list of family-friendly countries, but featured in 19th place in the index’s top countries for immigrants to move to in 2025.
The most family-friendly countries for 2025
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Iceland
- Germany
- Finland
- Denmark
- Australia
- USA
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
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