Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda

Lesser Antilles

Caribbean
75
Overall score
Strong overall
Language
English
Currency
XCD
Citizenship
~6–9 months (by investment)
Personal tax
0% (no personal income tax)
Cost of living
$1,500 / mo (single)

A '365 beaches' English-speaking CBI nation with no personal income tax and one of the cheaper family routes, plus a popular Nomad Digital Residence for remote workers.

Pros

  • No personal income tax
  • Cost-effective CBI for families
  • Nomad Digital Residence permit

Cons

  • Small job market & universities
  • Light physical-presence rule (5 days in 5 yrs)
  • Hurricane exposure

Best for

Families seeking a second passportRemote workersTax-residence planners

Score profile

Status & mobility
Passport
79
Citizenship
100
Residence
85
Money & business
Taxes
88
Corporate tax
29
Business
63
Investment
55
Economy
76
Wealth building
57
Living, study & work
Education
62
Salary & work
Cost of living
45
Buying power
63
Quality of life
Safety
57
Healthcare
73
Infrastructure
66
HDI
85

Status & mobility

Passport

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any travel or visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Passport power
Good
79

Passport-index style mobility for the Antigua and Barbuda passport. The score above is its world reach: the share of 198 destinations reachable without a prior visa.

156 / 198
Mobility
#27
Global rank
Yes
Biometric
  • Visa-free109
  • On arrival41
  • eTA6
  • Visa required42

Passport Index style mobility data (2024–2025 estimate). Placeholder figures; verify current entry rules with each destination’s authority before travelling.

Citizenship

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any citizenship decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Citizenship accessibility
Excellent
100
Years required~6–9 months via Citizenship by Investment
Dual allowedtrue
LanguageNone
ResidenceMinimum 5 days' presence within 5 years of citizenship
NotesRoutes include a National Development Fund donation (from ~US$230k) or approved real estate.
Residence

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any residence / visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Openness to residents
Excellent
85
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines how international the population already is (migrant stock at 45%), governance quality (regulatory quality at 25%), and the curated residence-pathway signal (30%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Migrant stock32.5% of population (2024)
Regulatory quality0.63 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main pathways
Citizenship by InvestmentNomad Digital ResidenceReal-estate ownership
StudentLimited local sector.
WorkWork permits available; small market.
Self-employedEasy company formation; no personal income tax.
PermanentCBI grants citizenship directly.

Money & business

Taxes

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Tax friendliness
Excellent
88
Personal0% - no personal income tax
Corporate25%
Capital gains0%
Dividends0% for residents
Exit taxNone
Foreign cosNo CFC regime
Personal tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Personal tax
Excellent
100
Personal0% - no personal income tax
FreelanceNo personal income tax on freelance income
Capital gains0%
Dividends0% for residents
Exit taxNone
Corporate tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Corporate tax
Low
29
Corporate25%
Capital gains0%
Dividends0% for residents
Foreign cosNo CFC regime
Business
Business friendliness
Moderate
63
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score leans on the two things founders ask about most: the tax burden (headline corporate rate at 20%, broader tax friendliness at 15%, and freedom from exit-tax / CFC rules at 10%) plus the regulatory and bureaucratic environment (regulatory quality 15%, government effectiveness 15%), on top of the curated company-rules signal (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the values are shown below.

Regulation & bureaucracy
Regulatory quality0.63 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Government effectiveness0.43 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rules & taxes
Foreign co.Yes: full foreign ownership; IBC regime
Local co.Quick company/IBC formation via agents
FreelanceNo personal income tax on freelance income
Corporate tax25%
Capital gains0%
Exit taxNone
Foreign cosNo CFC regime
Investment

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any investment / tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Investing environment
Moderate
55
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score is mostly the investor-tax signal (capital-gains treatment, broker access, wealth tax, and ETF or other taxes on investment, 70%), lightly contextualised by equity-market depth (market cap / GDP at 18%) and credit depth (domestic credit to the private sector / GDP at 12%). Available indicators are reweighted.

Private credit39% of GDP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capital gains0% capital-gains tax
DividendsData not available yet
ETFs & fundsData not available yet
Wealth taxNone
BrokersVia international brokers
Foreign accessData not available yet
Tax-advantagedData not available yet
Economy
Economic strength
Good
76
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines income level (GDP and GNI per capita, output per worker), growth momentum (real GDP growth), price stability (inflation) and labour utilisation (unemployment). Available indicators are reweighted; the sector split and industry profile below are descriptive, not scored.

Output & income
GDP$2.2B (2024)
GDP / person$23,542 (2024)
GNI / person$31,730 PPP (2024)
GDP growth3.7% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Stability & labour
Inflation6.2% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Sector composition
Agriculture1.9% of GDP (2023)
Industry19.0% of GDP (2023)
Services69.1% of GDP (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main industries
TourismCitizenship-by-investmentFinancial servicesConstructionYachting
Top exports
Refined petroleum (re-export)Tourism services
TypeUpper-middle-income, tourism-led
Key sectorsTourism & yachting, CBI programme revenue, Offshore finance
SummaryA twin-island economy dominated by tourism and yachting, supplemented by citizenship-by-investment receipts.
CurrencyEast Caribbean dollar (pegged to the US dollar)
Wealth building

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax / investment decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Wealth accumulation
Moderate
57
How this score is calculated

How favourable Antigua and Barbuda is for building wealth: earnings and business/investment upside, tax drag, and how much a typical income keeps after living costs. Estimated from the factors below.

Salary & work
Limited
34
Business
Moderate
61
Investment
Moderate
60
Tax friendliness
Excellent
88
Cost of living
Moderate
45

Living, study & work

Education
Education score
Moderate
62
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines attainment (expected schooling at 30% and mean schooling at 25%) with participation (tertiary enrolment at 25%) and public investment (government education spending at 20%). Available indicators are reweighted; tuition and study rules remain separate profile fields below.

Attainment
Expected schooling15.5 years (2023)
Mean schooling11.6 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Participation & investment
Tertiary enrolment25% gross (2012)
Education spending3.1% of GDP (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

TuitionLimited local options (incl. offshore medical schools)
Public uniSmall sector; many study abroad
LanguagesEnglish
Student workLimited
Salary & work
Labour-market strength
Data not available
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines output per worker (a proxy for wage potential at 40%), unemployment (35%) and labour-force participation (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the curated profile fields remain below.

Mean monthly earnings of employees
Overall$815 · $929 PPP (2018)

Source: ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization)

Tech salary (estimate)Small market; most earn remotely
FreelanceSuited to foreign-source remote income
Job marketTourism-led economy plus CBI revenue.
Cost of living
Affordability
Moderate
45

Our 0–100 affordability score is derived from the local consumer price level (World Bank, US = 100): the cheaper everyday prices are, the higher it scores. Lower price level means your money goes further here.

Price level82 (US = 100) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rent$900–1,600 (1BR)
Monthly$1,500
CitiesSt John's, Codrington
Buying power
Purchasing power score
Moderate
63
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score estimates how far money goes for the typical person here. It combines GNI per capita at PPP (30%) and actual household consumption per person at PPP (15%) with a price-advantage term from the local price level (25%) that rewards lower prices, then adjusts for income equality via the Gini index (20%), so unequal economies don't ride a high average, plus price stability via consumer inflation (10%). Available indicators are reweighted; it is a comparison, not a personal budget estimate.

GNI / person$31,730 PPP (2024)
Price level82 (US = 100) (2024)
Inflation6.2% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Quality of life

Safety
Safety & stability
Moderate
57
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines personal safety (intentional homicide rate at 35%), institutional quality (rule of law at 25% and control of corruption at 20%), and political stability and absence of violence (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below. Always check current government travel and security advice before relocating.

Personal safety
Homicide rate10.7 per 100,000 (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Institutions & stability
Rule of law0.60 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Control of corruption0.28 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Political stability1.07 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Healthcare
Healthcare score
Good
73
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines health outcomes (life expectancy at 25% and under-5 mortality at 20%) with system capacity (physicians at 20% and hospital beds at 15% per 1,000 people) and health spending per capita (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Outcomes
Life expectancy77.8 years (2024)
Under-5 mortality9.1 per 1,000 births (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capacity & resourcing
Physicians2.92 per 1,000 (2017)
Hospital beds3.42 per 1,000 (2023)
Health spending$1,241 PPP / person (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

System & costs
SystemPublic + private; complex cases referred abroad
InsuranceInternational insurance recommended
Avg costInternational cover advisable
Infrastructure
Infrastructure score
Good
66
How this score is calculated

The score combines digital access, resilience and download performance (30%), electricity access and network losses (30%), and transport infrastructure covering rail, logistics and aviation (40%). Available inputs are reweighted, but a country needs both digital and transport data to receive a score.

Digital infrastructure
Internet use72.7% (2024)
Internet resilience61 / 100 (2026)
Fixed speed62 / 100 download index (2026)
Mobile speed53 / 100 download index (2026)

Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators · Internet Society Pulse Internet Resilience Index

Utilities
Electricity access100.0% (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Transport
Transport quality2.70 / 5 (2022)
Air connectivity11,272 departures / million people (2022)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

HDI
Human development score
Excellent
85
How this score is calculated

The UN Human Development Index is the geometric mean of three dimension indices (a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living), shown on a 0–100 map scale (HDI × 100). The 2023 UNDP inputs behind each dimension are listed below.

HDI0.851 (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Long & healthy life
Life expectancy77.6 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Knowledge
Expected schooling15.5 years (2023)
Mean schooling11.6 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Standard of living
GNI / person$27,387 PPP (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Resources

Mock data for demonstration only. Not legal or tax advice.