Settle Asia

Methodology

Each tracked country gets seven sub-scores, each normalised to 0-100 where the best-performing country scores 100 and the worst scores 0 (cohort-relative min-max). Scores combine into a single composite using fixed weights. Below: what each dimension measures, where the data comes from, and how confident we are in each value.

Dimensions

Seven sub-scores, each normalised cohort-relative so the best country scores 100 and the worst scores 0. Inverted dimensions (cost, AQI) rank the cheapest / cleanest air at 100.

Cost of living

Single-person monthly EUR benchmark. PPP-adjusted private-consumption data from the World Bank plus a 1-bedroom city-centre rent sample from public listings. Manually reviewed and stored as seed values.

Scoring
Cohort relative, lower raw → higher score
Source
World Bank PPP, manual listing samples
Note
Estimate varies by lifestyle and currency fluctuations.

Air quality

Median PM2.5 from monitoring stations within 25 km of the capital (with fallback cities for sparse-coverage countries), 7-day rolling window.

Scoring
Cohort relative, lower raw → higher score
Source
OpenAQ v3
Note
Seasonal burning (Feb-Apr mainland, Jun-Oct Indonesia) can temporarily elevate readings. See the calendar below.

Burning season calendar

When the smoke arrives in each country. Mainland SE Asia burns in the cool dry months (Jan-Apr); Indonesia burns when its dry season peaks (Jun-Oct); Bali is largely spared. Worth knowing if you have lungs that complain or you're planning a multi-month stay.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
ThailandFeb-Apr
VietnamJan-Mar
CambodiaJan-Mar
LaosJan-Apr
PhilippinesJan-Mar
MalaysiaFeb-Apr
IndonesiaJun-Oct
BaliLargely spared
Mild / brief Significant Severe

Severity is qualitative: mild = mostly clear with a haze risk in bad years (PH, MY); significant = annual multi-week WHO breach (TH, VN, KH); severe = repeated 100+ µg/m³ peaks (north LA, Sumatra/Kalimantan in ID).

Visa accessibility

Ease score 0 to 100 based on tourist duration, in-country extensions, and availability of dedicated long-stay or nomad visas.

Scoring
Higher raw → higher score, Western passport baseline (IE, UK, US, DE, FR, NL, AU, CA, NZ, ES, IT, equivalent SE Asia access)
Source
Official immigration sites
Note
SG, JP, KR and most ASEAN passports get more permissive rules than the score reflects. See the visa page for the practical view.

Safety

Safety benchmark 0 to 100, derived from UNODC intentional-homicide rates and the Global Peace Index. Editorially calibrated for the capital and the largest expat city.

Scoring
Cohort relative, higher raw → higher score
Source
UNODC homicide rates, IEP Global Peace Index

Healthcare

Expat-reality composite 0 to 100, weighted by what a Western relocator or nomad actually experiences: tier-1 hospital access (30%), self-pay cost advantage (25%), English-speaking specialists (20%), complex-case capacity (15%), and routine access (10%).

Scoring
Weighted composite, not population-weighted access
Source
Hospital self-pay surveys, JCI directory, international insurance carrier referrals, expat-forum consensus
Note
Rural/population-weighted access indices (IHME HAQ, WHO physician density) inform context but are not primary inputs. See the healthcare guide for the full rubric.

Internet

Median observed download bandwidth (Mbps), last 7 days. Real-world experience on Cloudflare's network, not peak Speedtest values, which are typically much higher.

Scoring
Cohort relative, higher raw → higher score
Source
Cloudflare Radar IQI

Nomad infrastructure

Sum of coworking-space counts across the three most-used cities per country. Manually curated from Coworker.com and equivalent public directories.

Scoring
Cohort relative, higher raw → higher score
Source
Coworker.com and equivalents

Live conditions map

Switch between PM2.5, rain, temperature, wind and humidity. Surface forecasts from ECMWF, regional context for the AQI sub-score (which is a 7-day median).

Surface forecasts from ECMWF, via Windy · Open larger map →

Weights

Sub-score contributions to the composite. If a dimension is missing for a country, the remaining weights are renormalised across the available subset so a single missing dimension doesn't double-penalise.

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Confidence

Every sub-score is tagged with a confidence level so you can read the dashboard with the right amount of scepticism.

High

Live API, fresh data this run.

Medium

Verified reference data updated within the last ~90 days.

Low

Missing, stale, or sparse. Flagged with a bold red * next to the score.

Happiness ranking

Country-level rank from the annual World Happiness Report, published each March. Shown on the country page as auxiliary context, it does not feed the composite score. Updated once per year.

Source: World Happiness Report, University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre / Gallup / UN SDSN.

Limitations