Andorra Ranks Second in 2026 Liveability Index, Held Back by Citizenship Rules

Andorra has finished second in the Nomad Lifestyle Index 2026, a ranking of 63 destinations aimed at people weighing where to live abroad. The Pyrenean country scored 73.68 out of 100, behind Monaco on 73.89 and just ahead of the United Arab Emirates on 73.15 — a spread of 0.74 points across the podium that the report itself treats as a tie.

Key facts

• Andorra ranks 2nd of 63 destinations, with an overall score of 73.68
• Its strongest pillar is safety and freedom (96.0), the highest of all 63 destinations
• Its weakest pillar is residence and access (49.6)
• Citizenship requires 20 years of residence, plus a language and history test; dual citizenship is not allowed
• Andorra has no commercial airport; Barcelona-El Prat and Toulouse-Blagnac are the main gateways, with onward travel by road

What is the Nomad Lifestyle Index?

The index is published by Nomad Capitalist, a consultancy that advises on tax residency and second passports. It scores 63 destinations on five pillars, each weighted at 20%: nature and climate, tax, residence and access, safety and freedom, and quality of life and infrastructure. The overall score is the plain average of the five.

Why does Andorra rank second?

Andorra leads every destination in the index on safety and freedom with 96.0, and it has the cleanest air of any European destination included, at 4.3 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre. It scores 83.9 on quality of life and 76.0 on tax, built on a flat 10% blended rate with no wealth or inheritance tax.

Its profile is notably even: no pillar is above 96.0 and none falls below 49.6. That balance is what keeps it within touching distance of Monaco, whose first place rests on a single perfect score of 100.0 for quality of life and infrastructure.

What holds Andorra back?

Residence and access is Andorra's weak point at 49.6. Four of the five residence routes tracked by the index exist in the country, but applicants for citizenship must first complete 20 years of residence and pass a language and history test, and dual citizenship is not permitted. The report identifies this as the reason Andorra did not take first place.

How does the rest of the top 10 compare?

Behind the top three come Malta (72.11), Portugal (70.09), Cyprus (68.42), Singapore (67.12), the Cayman Islands (66.50), New Zealand (66.43) and Switzerland (65.44). Malta leads all 63 destinations on residence and access with 95.0: all five residence routes are open, citizenship is possible after 5 years, and its passport score of 109.0 is the strongest in the index.

Monaco, in first place, requires 10 years of residence before applying for citizenship and the renunciation of your previous nationality. Like Andorra, it has no commercial airport — Nice Côte d'Azur, roughly 20 km away, is the usual gateway.

Which country suits your priorities?

When one pillar is weighted at 40% and the others at 15% each, the winner changes: Malta leads on nature and climate and on residence and access, the United Arab Emirates on tax, Andorra on safety and freedom, and Monaco on quality of life. Andorra reaches the top three in four of the five tests.

What the index does not measure

The report does not price anything: there are no property prices, visa fees or investment thresholds, so a free remote-worker visa and a costly investment route count the same. Eight destinations, including Andorra and Monaco, have at least one nature input filled in with the average of other countries because global datasets do not cover them. France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Hungary and Turkey are not among the 63 destinations at all, and the publisher sells the tax and second-passport services the index rewards.

What this means for travellers

Anyone visiting or moving to Andorra should plan for road travel, since the country has no commercial airport and Barcelona-El Prat and Toulouse-Blagnac are the main gateways. Those weighing a longer stay should note the 20-year residence requirement for citizenship, the language and history test and the ban on dual nationality before deciding which residence route fits.

The report itself advises reading the ranking as a shortlist rather than a verdict, and comparing it with other sources before making a decision.