Labor, health care and insurance costs are generally lower, although the overall quality of life can be equal to or better than expats have experienced in their native countries. In a recent study of expats mainly from the U.S. and Canada living in Panama, Belize and Nicaragua, titled Expat Reports: Is it Cheaper to Live Abroad? , 34% of respondents reported that the cost of living in their expat country was less than half that in their native countries, and 74.8% said that, for the same money, their lifestyle abroad was “much better.”