How easy is it for an expat to make friends in Ireland?iStock

Ireland has a reputation for being friendly to strangers, but is the country as welcoming as we believe?

In a survey of expats who ranked 67 countries for ‘Ease of Settling In,’ Ireland ranked 20 for friendliness and 46 on the ease of finding friends.

The Expat Insider 2016 index by InterNations surveyed more than 14,000 respondents from around the world, asking expats about the friendliness of local population, how welcome they feel, the ease of making new friends, and how easy and crucial is it to learn the local language.

On ease of settling in, Ireland came in 23 and was 28 for making expats feel welcome. The highest ranking was in language, where Ireland came in at number 10.

Mexico ranked first for both finding friends and ease of settling in. Taiwan topped the list for friendliness.

The top 25 rankings for “Friendliness” are below. You can find the full list of ranking in the report here.

1.Taiwan 

2.Uganda 

3.Costa Rica 

4.Mexico 

5.Colombia 

6.Oman 

7.Philippines 

8.New Zealand 

9.Vietnam 

10.Portugal 

11.Brazil 

12.Spain 

13.Ecuador 

14.Canada 

15.Romania 

16.Bahrain 

17.Malta 

18.Indonesia 

19.Ukraine 

20.Ireland 

21.Thailand 

22.Argentina 

23.Australia 

24.Cyprus 

25.USA 

Source: indy100.independent.co.uk