Methodology
How to read these numbers.
Everything here comes from people who chose to answer. That makes the data interesting, and it makes it limited in specific ways worth naming.
Where the data comes from
Every number on this site is calculated from anonymous responses submitted through the survey on WasMovingAbroadWorthIt.com. There is no other source. We do not merge in census data, immigration records or third-party surveys.
What the numbers do not mean
- Responses are self-reported. We take people at their word about where they moved and how long ago.
- Respondents are self-selected. People who feel strongly, in either direction, are more likely to answer than people who feel neutral.
- Results are not representative of the population of any country, or even of everyone who made a given move.
- This is not scientific polling. There is no sampling frame, no weighting and no margin of error to quote.
- The platform does not independently verify anyone's migration history.
- Percentages move as more people answer, sometimes sharply on routes that have only just opened.
The minimum cohort rule
No percentage is published for any group smaller than 20 responses. That applies three times over: to a route as a whole, to each subgroup inside a route such as an age band or a profession, and to the “people like you” comparison shown after someone answers.
A group below that line is not shown as a smaller number or a hedged one. It is not shown at all. Small groups produce percentages that swing wildly and can also make individual people identifiable, and neither is worth the extra data point.
How answers are counted
One response is counted per anonymous browser identifier per migration route. If the same browser answers the same route again, the earlier answer stands and the newer one is not added.
Submissions pass through a bot check and a rate limit before they are recorded. These measures reduce casual manipulation. They cannot prove that any given respondent is who they say they are, and we do not claim otherwise.
How percentages are calculated
The headline figure is simply the share of responses for that route where the answer to “would you make the same move again” was yes. Subgroup figures are the same calculation applied to the responses in that subgroup. Nothing is weighted, adjusted or smoothed.
Wording we use
Results describe respondents, never countries. A route showing 43% no means 43% of the people who answered for that route said they would not make the same move again. It does not mean the destination is worse than another, and we try to write it that way everywhere on the site.