Unfortunately, in this day and age, expats can still face discrimination in their host countries. However, as highlighted by various studies, some countries stand out for their reputation of being more inclusive and for having fewer instances of discrimination or violence against expats.
What is “xenophobia”? How is it different from racism?
Xenophobia and racism overlap as forms of discrimination, but they are not exactly the same. The first word is a combination of the Greek “xenos,” which means “stranger,” and “phobia,” meaning “fear.” It is unwarranted mistrust of, discrimination against, and even sometimes violence against people who are not from your country. The xenophobia expats face may be at the interpersonal level, when they interact with people in their neighborhood or friends groups abroad, but also at an institutional level, including when there are cumbersome barriers to getting promoted meritocratically at work or securing housing.
Meanwhile, as the Migration Research Hub says, racism is a sense of superiority over people of another race or ethnicity that leads to hatred. Racism does not differentiate between whether the person who is from another racial/ethnic background is from the same country or is an expat. Of course, a person can be both xenophobic and racist at the same time when they hate a person both for being a non-local and for being of a different racial background. Expats of color can be particularly vulnerable to both xenophobia and racism. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese expats in countries like the US and UK faced both.
Countries celebrated for their openness to expats
No country is completely free from xenophobia. However, some have a better reputation for a lower number of cases of discrimination reported to the authorities, or a higher percentage of locals saying they are open to having neighbors from other countries and backgrounds. The following list is based on findings from the World Values Survey, Schengen Visa Info, and US News. Some of these studies focused more on racial equity than on xenophobia per se, but as previously said, there is an overlap between them. The countries listed do not currently have far-right governments that push xenophobic rhetoric to scapegoat expats for economic problems.
New Zealand
The land of the Kiwis ranks among the top three from all of the studies it's included in. A study of the Victoria University of Wellington found that for skilled expats from countries as diverse as India, Ireland, the UK and South Africa, the decision to move to New Zealand was largely influenced by the country's reputation for openness and tolerance. In the US News study, the country's scores for issues related to low levels of xenophobia, such as a commitment to social justice, human rights and racial equity, were all high, generally over 90%.
An astounding 29% of New Zealand's population are now expats, who have a population of 14 million on the island. Stats NZ reports that the immigration of expats has increased by a net 39,100 in one year, between 2023 and 2024, although data about 2025 is still unavailable. Many of them are from the UK, China, the Philippines, South Africa and Australia, which highlights the diversity of expats there. IT, healthcare, and skilled trades are sectors that attract them. Unfortunately, Asian expats still occasionally face xenophobic attacks there, but overall, these rates remain much lower than in other expat destinations.
Canada
Like New Zealand, Canada has enjoyed a good reputation for being an open, tolerant and safe country for expats from all corners of the world and all walks of life. Like New Zealand, it boasts very high ratings for its commitment to human rights, racial equity and social justice in the 2024 US News study.
In recent years, the Canadian state has eased immigration rules and strengthened programs for integration to welcome more expats to the country. In 2024, it welcomed around 400,000 new expats from all over the world, but especially from Asian countries like India, China and the Philippines. The country's major cities of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal have become very multicultural, and expats are now even living in lesser-known places in Alberta and Nova Scotia.
However, very recently, no earlier than 2024, the atmosphere has shifted. High unemployment rates and other economic problems have led to backlash against high immigration rates. For the first time in over a decade, the Canadian government has decided to cut immigration in 2025 by 20%. The number of visas granted to new expats is expected to keep gradually going down in the next few years, down to around 300,000 per year. There has also unfortunately been a recent uptick in xenophobic attacks, especially against Indian expats, who are the largest group of newly-arrived expats.
Nevertheless, despite this less positive future outlook, Canada remains a country where many expats have been able to feel at home. The level of xenophobia, especially of the violent kind, faced by expats there remains much lower than in the US right down south.
Spain
The 2024 study by Schengen Visa Info tried to measure the level of racism in all European countries, and the country with the best score was revealed to be Spain. Several factors contributed to this great score. For one, recent reforms to the Spanish Criminal Code now impose harsher penalties for racist or xenophobic elements of any crime by treating them as an “aggravated circumstance.” The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, on whose findings Schengen Visa Info partly based its own research, also found that racist harassment in Spain stands at only 16%, which is fairly low.
In recent years, Spain has become a favorite destination for digital nomads in search of warm weather, a relaxed lifestyle, and a lower cost of living than in other high-income countries. The country also has many expats from South America and North Africa, especially Morocco, because of their historical relationship. Since the early 2000s, many Chinese expats have also been moving to Spain, where they now form a community of over 200,000 expats. Muslim and South American expats have reported higher rates of discrimination in the country than other expat groups in Spain. Still, overall, the situation is better than in other countries of the continent.
Sweden
Sweden ranked second in Schengen Visa Info's study about countries with the lowest levels of racism in Europe. It also ranked fourth globally in the World Values Survey for the more racially equitable countries.
Sweden's commitment to embracing expats is exemplified by its early adoption of multilingual public education for expat children, a progressive initiative introduced in the 1970s, decades ahead of similar programs in other countries. Mother Tongue Instruction (MTI) is provided in over 160 languages, including Arabic, Somali, and Serbo-Croatian, to expat children under 18. The program helps expat children adapt more easily to the Swedish education system and not feel academically left behind just because of an initial language barrier. They can learn in their native language and in Swedish at the same time.
According to the latest data from 2023, 20% of Sweden's population was born outside of the country. That is 2.7 million people out of a population of around 11 million. However, just like in New Zealand, Canada, and Spain, it is not picture perfect. Swedes tend to be very reserved and prioritize privacy, which can often hinder the ability of expats to befriend them and feel fully part of the community. The xenophobic far-right has also become more popular in recent years, leading to concerns about Islamophobia and Antisemitism.
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