Latvia ranks among the world's best retirement destinations as Uruguay takes the top spot
A new global ranking of retirement and passive-income residence programmes puts Uruguay in first place, overtaking last year's leader Portugal, while Europe still holds six of the top ten spots, including Latvia.
Global Citizen Solutions has released its 2026 retirement index, comparing 46 retirement and passive-income residence programmes worldwide across quality of life, travel freedom and routes to citizenship, taxation, application procedures and costs. Uruguay has claimed the top position this year, overtaking Portugal, which led the ranking in 2025. Uruguay's rise is attributed not to excelling in any single category but to consistently solid scores across all five. Mauritius follows in second place, combining favourable taxation with strong results elsewhere.
Despite a South American country topping the list, Europe remains the most represented region, with six countries in the top ten: Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Andorra, Italy and Greece. Fewer than four points separate first and tenth place, showing how closely matched the leading programmes are.
Latvia's performance
Latvia ranks third among European countries, behind only Spain and Portugal. The report highlights Latvia's programme as one of the lowest-cost options in the entire index, with processing times of two to four months — notably faster than Portugal, where applications can take up to two years.
Key factors behind the rankings
Quality of life carries the most weight in the index, followed by mobility and citizenship options, then taxation, application procedures and costs. European programmes generally score well on living standards and strong passports but are weighed down by higher taxes. The Americas stand out for affordability and favourable taxation, while Middle Eastern destinations attract retirees with low taxes and fast processing, though without a standard path to citizenship.
According to the report, 24 programmes worldwide allow naturalisation within five years, while four — Malta, the UAE, Ireland and Bahrain — offer no standard route to citizenship through retirement or passive-income visas.
