Expats really love Bahrain. Here’s why
dubai — Bahrain is the most popular destination in the world for expats, while Kuwait is voted as “the unfriendliest country” for foreign residents worldwide, a global survey reveals.
While expats find it hard to settle in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bahrain offers everything they need. Oman ranks above the worldwide average on a solid 17th place, Expat Insider 2017 Survey report said.
In Bahrain, which has surprisingly improved its ranking by 19 places to become the best destination for expats in 2017, nearly nine in 10 expats (87 per cent) said they are happy with their life. The tiny kingdom has been given high marks by its expats as a place to work and raise a family and for making foreigners feel welcome. The UAE ranks the 26th worldwide destination preferred by expats.
The survey finds the majority of expats in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia have an income of less than $50,000 per year — only in Qatar, one-third has access to over $100,000 a year.
“Kuwait is seen as the unfriendliest country for foreign residents worldwide, but Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also challenging to settle in. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait trail far behind in the bottom 10 of the worst destinations across the globe,” said the report.
While the Gulf states are close to each other in geographical terms, the local expat population sees them very differently. The main issue in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait seems to be a lack of friendliness towards foreign residents, as the Expat Insider 2017 survey reveals.
With nearly 13,000 respondents living and working abroad, it is one of the most extensive expat studies, conducted yearly by InterNations, the largest expat community worldwide. The survey ranks 65 countries by a variety of factors such as quality of life, working abroad and settling in.
In addition to Bahrain, this year’s top 10 destinations for expats are Costa Rica, Mexico, Taiwan, Portugal, New Zealand, Malta, Colombia, Singapore and Spain.
The reputations of the US and UK as good places to live and work are in free fall among some of the world’s most mobile and cosmopolitan people.
Since last year’s presidential and Brexit votes, both the US and Britain are perceived as less friendly to foreigners and less politically stable, according to a survey of almost 13,000 expatriates of 166 nationalities.
Expats also say the two countries’ quality of life is declining by other measures, especially the affordability of child care and health care in the US and housing in the UK.
There are about 50 million expats worldwide, according to market research by Finaccord, and the number is expected to hit 60 million over the next five years.
Greece was at the very bottom of the list, weighed down by the country’s economic problems.
Australia, which ranked in the top 10 last year, dropped more than any other country, to 34th place. Expats’ ratings of jobs, career prospects, work hours and work-life balance all dropped.
One of the expats’ favourite places to work is China, where two-thirds of respondents are happy with their careers. But China ranks 55 out of 65 overall because of quality of life. Expats, especially those with children, are concerned about the severe pollution and the quality and cost of health care and education.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan, which topped last year’s list, slipped to fourth place, while Singapore edged into the top 10. Hong Kong, Singapore’s longtime rival, languished at 39th, up five places on last year.
The UK ranks 54, down 21 places from last year’s survey, after its June 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
The US, ranked 43rd, seems to have lost some lustre after a year of political volatility, said Malte Zeeck, a founder and coCEO of InterNations. Just 36 per cent of expats have a positive opinion of America’s political stability, down from 68 per cent in last year’s survey.
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com