Let’s take a look at the best places to retire in Brazil. This country can offer you a lot, especially if you like coffee, Samba, and soccer.
If you have your mind set on retiring in South America, why not choose the continent’s largest and most powerful country? In terms of area and population, Brazil is also the 5th largest country in the world. Thanks to its natural resources, Brazil represents a major force in terms of economic strength. If the fact that life in Brazil is a lot cheaper than in the United States doesn’t win you over completely, its beaches, cuisine, and people surely will.
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All of the things stated above influenced the fact that Brazil is 22nd happiest country in the world, at least if we are to believe the World Happiness Report from 2017. Brazilians are ranked in front of Spaniards and French, for example. In case you are wondering, The United States is ranked 14th.
If you have some doubts about Brazil’s healthcare system, you’ll be happy to hear that healthcare is guaranteed to both residents and foreigners by the Constitution. As long as you are legally staying in the country, you’ll be eligible to receive a free healthcare. In case you want a higher quality healthcare, you can opt to pay for private insurance that isn’t too expensive. It will provide you with a better care shorter wait period. OECD Health Statistics Report tells us that Brazil spent 9.3% of GDP on health, which is around the average of all OECD members. For comparison, The United States was spending 16.9% of GDP in 2012, more than any other OECD country. The issue is that the health system in Brazil is understaffed. In 2010 there were 1.8 physicians and 1.5 nurses per 1,000 people which is greatly below OECD average. The same goes for 2.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
You are probably having concerns about the safety in Brazil, and unfortunately, you are right to do so since the World Economic Forum report puts Brazil in the 109th place in the world in terms of safety and security. We don’t want to scare you, but according to one report from 2015, on the list of 50 most dangerous cities in the world (ranked by homicide rates per 100,000 population), Brazil participates with 21 cities. The United States Overseas Security Advisory Council has issued 4 Crime and Safety reports for Brazil, covering Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Sao Paulo, and Brasilia. Violent and non-violent crimes in all of these states occur frequently, with foreigners being victims more often than the natives. In case you want to feel safer and don’t mind the cold, take a look at our list of Best Places to Retire in Canada.
If you are curious about how we managed to come up with the list of best places to retire in Brazil, let us explain. First, we took recommendations about attractive retirement destinations and best places to live in the country from multiple sources including Nomad List, Quora, Share Money, International Living, among the others. The cities that were most recommended were then assigned points according to the cost of the meal, combined rent for a one bedroom apartment (Numbeo) and hospital to population ratio (Google Maps). Extra points were given for the cities that had better weather averages (World Weather Online). In order for you to understand the provided info better, note that hospital to population ratio tells us in theory, how many people are assigned to one hospital. The weather information will tell you the highest and the lowest monthly average in a year. Now, let’s find that perfect retirement place.
