Hungary ranks 35th out of 60 destinations for sustainability!

InterNations publishes its first Enviroment & Sustainability Ranking, revealing the best and the worst countries for the sustainable expat.

• Finland (1st), Sweden, Norway, Austria, and Switzerland (5th) are the best countries for the  sustainable expat. India (60th), Kuwait, Egypt, Indonesia, and Vietnam (56th) come last. 
• Hungary performs below average for most ranking factors: for example, less than half the  expats (49%) are satisfied with the local air quality. 
• The Environment & Sustainability Ranking is based on the Expat Insider 2020 survey, one of  the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad.  

In its first Environment & Sustainability Report, InterNations, the  world’s largest expat community, identifies the best and worst countries for the sustainable expat.  The results, which are based on the Expat Insider 2020 survey, reveal that Finland, Sweden, Norway,  Austria, and Switzerland excel at offering a sustainable environment. At the other end of the ranking,  India, Kuwait, Egypt, Indonesia, and Vietnam are rated the worst countries for the sustainable expat. 

Hungary ranks 35th out of 60 destinations

The Environment & Sustainability Ranking is based on eight individual factors, such as expats’  satisfaction with the availability of green goods and services and the air quality. It also includes their perception of how much the government supports policies to protect the environment and how  interested the local population is when it comes to environmental issues.  

Hungary lands in the lower half of the Environment & Sustainability Ranking (35th out of 60 countries)  ranking below average for most factors featured in the survey.

It does best in the Quality of  Environment subcategory (32nd): Expats rate the factor water and sanitation better than the global  average (76% positive ratings vs. 72% globally). However, only three in four respondents (75%) like the  natural environment in Hungary (vs. 82% globally), and less than half (49%) are satisfied with the air  quality (vs. 62% globally). 

Hungary places 34th in the Products & Utilities subcategory, with around four in seven expats (57%)  expressing their satisfaction with the country’s waste management and recycling measures, which is  also just below the global average (60%).

And there are also fewer expats who are happy with Hungary’s energy supply (57% vs. 62% globally) and the availability of green goods and services (59%  vs. 63% globally). 

Lastly, the country performs rather poorly in the Policies & People subcategory (38th): according to  expats, the population does not seem to be very interested in environmental issues (33% vs. 30%  globally). Moreover, the government does not appear to be supporting policies to protect the  environment either, with only 36% of expats agreeing that they do (vs. 55% globally). 

To find out more about the other 59 destinations featured in the survey, please take a look at the  survey report here.  

• Budapest ranks 3rd best city for digital nomads in Europe

About the Environment & Sustainability Report  

To identify the best and worst countries for a sustainable life abroad, survey participants of the Expat  Insider 2020 survey were asked to rate their personal satisfaction with the following factors on a scale  of one to seven: air quality, the natural environment, water and sanitation, the availability of green  goods and services, energy supply, and the local waste management and recycling infrastructure. The  rating factors also include their perception of how strongly the government supports policies to  protect the environment and how interested the local population is when it comes to environmental  issues.  

For a country to be featured in the Environment & Sustainability Ranking, a sample size of at least 75  survey respondents per country was necessary.

In 2020, 60 destinations met this requirement, with  more than 15,000 expats in total taking part in the survey, representing 173 nationalities and living in  181 countries or territories.

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Source: InterNations