Selection process: Step 1: Sunshine > Step 2: Temperature > Step 3: Lifestyle
Once I choose the sunniest destinations and eliminate the ones that get too cold during the winter, I apply the last filter: life quality. Some of the sunniest places in the world are poor countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. What good does it do you that a place is warm and sunny if you can’t comfortably live there?
To determine basic lifestyle quality, I filter destinations using the following 2-step process:
1. I exclude any countries that are currently unstable or otherwise unsafe. Examples include: Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
2. I exclude any countries with GDP (PPP) per capita below $5,000 as calculated by the Central Intelligence Agency. This excludes some of the poorest countries in the world where an average expat would be unlikely to feel comfortable.
The cities in the countries that remain on the list after applying these two filters appear in the final ranking of the sunniest cities. I decided against using any other filters because life quality is a subjective thing. Some will prefer to move to poor, undeveloped, but also unspoiled Nicaragua, while others will prefer wealthy Australia or Qatar, with others choosing a country more in the middle of this spectrum like Mexico or Mauritius.
Country Rankings
The methodology behind the country rankings is explained in the sunniest countries in the world ranking.