MALAYSIA is no doubt a fantastic place for foreigners to visit thanks to our diverse culture and nature. So it’s no surprise that our country was recently ranked as the second friendliest country in Asia in a rating by Yahoo! Finance and Insider Monkey.

In which Malaysia scored 2.20 in the list.

In addition, the ranking found that we are the world’s 15th friendliest country and the 16th most immigrant-friendly nation, with a “migrant stock in the population of 10.7%”.

Aside from that, Yahoo! Finance and Insider Monkey reported that Malaysia was named 25th best destination for expats residing by HSBC, adding that 26 million visitors visited our country last year due to a high visa approval rate.

Malaysia’s strong rating was also boosted by the Passport Index 2024, which named our nation the world’s fourth most welcoming country in terms of visa-on-arrival and electronic travel authorisation (eTA) entrance for travelling passengers.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the only Asian country that rated higher than Malaysia, with expatriates accounting for more than 88% of the country’s total share.

Furthermore, HSBC placed the UAE as the world’s fourth best country for expatriates, which contributed to the country’s top ranking.

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Aside from that, six Southeast Asian nations reached the top 15 list: Cambodia (13th), Thailand (8th), Singapore (5th), the Philippines (4th), Vietnam (3rd), and, of course, Malaysia (2nd).

Here are the top fifteen list of the Friendliest Country for Foreigners:

1. United Arab Emirates (2.52 score)

2. Malaysia (2.20 score)

3. Vietnam (1.67 score)

4. The Philippines (1.63 score)

5. Singapore (1.51 score)

6. Saudi Arabia (1.141 score)

7. Taiwan (1.36 score)

8. Thailand (1.32 score)

9. Turkiye (1.24 score)

10. Jordan (1.23 score)

11. Bahrain (1.20 score)

12. India (1.18 score)

13. Cambodia (1.00 score)

14. Maldives (1.00 score)

15. Sri Lanka (0.96 score)