The overall score
Overall is a weighted sum of five pillars. Each pillar is itself a weighted mix of lenses, which you can colour the map by one at a time.
| Pillar | Weight | Made of |
|---|---|---|
| Access | 17% | Residence (12), Citizenship and passport (5) |
| Earning power | 25% | Salary and work (12), Buying power (13) |
| Business and wealth | 20% | Taxes (7), Business (8), Investment (5) |
| Daily life | 25% | Quality of life (18), Education (7) |
| Rights and institutions | 13% | Freedom (6), Rule of law (7) |
Penalties for weak foundations
A high salary or a low tax rate should not hide a country where courts, safety or healthcare are failing. When one of these falls below its threshold, Overall is multiplied down. The multiplier rises in a straight line from its minimum at a score of 0 to no penalty at the threshold. Several penalties can apply at once.
- Rights and institutions pillar below 30: Overall is multiplied by between 0.40 and 1.00.
- Safety below 40: Overall is multiplied by between 0.20 and 1.00.
- Healthcare below 40: Overall is multiplied by between 0.50 and 1.00.
- Environment below 35: Overall is multiplied by between 0.45 and 1.00.
Missing and old data
A missing input is never counted as zero. The inputs that do exist are reweighted to fill its place. For most lenses at least half of the weight must have data; below that, the lens shows as not available. Overall needs 75% coverage, including the Access, Earning power, Daily life, and Rights and institutions pillars.
Older statistics count for less. Measured from 2026, an observation counts in full for coverage when it is up to 5 years old, 75% up to 10 years, 50% up to 20 years, and 25% beyond that. Each profile shows the year of every statistic it uses.
What each lens measures
Weights are relative within each lens. Sources marked “curated profile” come from the hand-written country profiles, which are illustrative and not legal or tax advice; the rest are official statistics.
| Lens | Inputs (weight, source) |
|---|---|
| Residence | Migrant share of population (40, World Bank WDI); Regulatory quality (20, World Bank WGI); Number of residence routes (25, Curated profile); Permanent residence rules (15, Curated profile) |
| Citizenship and passport | Citizenship score (70, Lens); Passport score (30, Lens) |
| Citizenship | Dual citizenship allowed (45, Curated profile); Years to naturalise (25, Curated profile); Citizenship by investment (15, Curated profile); Language requirement (10, Curated profile); Type of citizenship route (5, Curated profile) |
| Passport | Passport world reach (100, Curated profile) |
| Salary and work | Output per worker (40, World Bank WDI); Unemployment rate (35, World Bank WDI); Labour force participation (25, World Bank WDI) |
| Buying power | GNI per person (PPP) (30, World Bank WDI); Household spending per person (PPP) (15, World Bank WDI); Consumer price level (25, World Bank WDI); Income inequality (Gini) (20, World Bank WDI); Inflation (10, World Bank WDI) |
| Cost of living | Consumer price level (100, World Bank WDI) |
| Economy | GDP per person (20, World Bank WDI); GNI per person (PPP) (15, World Bank WDI); Output per worker (20, World Bank WDI); GDP growth (20, World Bank WDI); Inflation (15, World Bank WDI); Unemployment rate (10, World Bank WDI) |
| Taxes | Overall tax burden (100, Curated profile) |
| Personal tax | Top personal income tax rate (100, Curated profile) |
| Corporate tax | Corporate tax rate (100, Curated profile) |
| Business | Company and freelance rules (40, Curated profile); Regulatory quality (30, World Bank WGI); Government effectiveness (30, World Bank WGI) |
| Investment | Access to brokers (50, Curated profile); Stock market size (30, World Bank WDI); Credit to the private sector (20, World Bank WDI) |
| Wealth building | Salary and work score (25, Lens); Business score (20, Lens); Investment score (20, Lens); Taxes score (20, Lens); Cost of living score (15, Lens) |
| Quality of life | Safety score (35, Lens); Healthcare score (40, Lens); Infrastructure score (25, Lens) |
| Safety | Homicide rate (50, World Bank WDI); Political stability (30, World Bank WGI); Control of corruption (20, World Bank WGI) |
| Healthcare | Life expectancy (25, World Bank WDI); Under-5 mortality (20, World Bank WDI); Doctors per 1,000 people (20, World Bank WDI); Hospital beds per 1,000 people (15, World Bank WDI); Health spending per person (20, World Bank WDI) |
| Environment | Air pollution (PM2.5) (60, World Bank WDI); Water stress (40, World Bank WDI) |
| Infrastructure | Internet use (7.5, World Bank WDI); Internet resilience (11.25, Internet Society); Fixed broadband speed (7.5, Internet Society); Mobile download speed (3.75, Internet Society); Access to electricity (15, World Bank WDI); Power grid losses (15, World Bank WDI); Trade and transport infrastructure (25, World Bank WDI); Rail network density (7.5, World Bank WDI); Flights per million people (7.5, World Bank WDI) |
| Education | Expected years of schooling (30, UNDP HDR 2025); Mean years of schooling (25, UNDP HDR 2025); University enrolment (25, World Bank WDI); Public education spending (20, World Bank WDI) |
| HDI | Human Development Index (100, UNDP HDR 2025) |
| Freedom | Political rights and civil liberties (60, Freedom House); Internet freedom (40, Freedom House) |
| Rule of law | Rule of law (percentile rank) (100, World Bank WGI) |
Where the numbers come from
- UNDP Human Development Report 2025
- World Bank World Development Indicators
- Internet Society Pulse Internet Resilience Index
- ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization)
- World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators (Rule of Law)
- Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2025
- Freedom House: Freedom on the Net 2025
Internet resilience and speed data provided by Internet Society. World Bank data is used under CC BY 4.0 and UNDP data under CC BY 3.0 IGO; values are rescaled to 0 to 100 here, which is a change from the original. Statistics were last downloaded on 30 June 2026, and each statistic keeps its own observation year.
What the scores are not
They are a way to shortlist, not a verdict. A national average says little about one city, one visa route or one person's tax position, and the curated profile fields can be out of date. Check the official sources linked on each profile, and a qualified adviser, before you act. For how to read two of the inputs with their margins of error, see the guides on price levels and governance scores.