Expat ranking
This is where expats prefer to live
Málaga is the most popular city in the world among expats.
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Many people around the world are looking for happiness far away. And how do you rate life abroad? A survey provides answers.
One of the largest expat organizations is InterNations with more than five million members. She regularly conducts and creates surveys among the expats registered with her “Expat Insider” ranking of the most popular cities and countries in the world. The results of the last survey show that the best way to speak Spanish is to choose one of the top destinations.
Mexico took first place out of 53 countries surveyed. Above all, settling in (ranked first in the Ease of Settling In Index) is easy for expats here. This may be due to the friendliness of the people: most respondents find the locals in general (91 percent compared to 67 percent worldwide) and foreign residents in particular (89 percent compared to 65 percent worldwide) to be very friendly. This makes it easier to make friends: around three out of four expatriates (74 percent) find it easy to make local friends, compared to only 43 percent worldwide.
Mexico, Spain, Panama: This is where expats prefer to live
“Expat Insider” lists Spain as the second most popular country among expats. When it comes to leisure activities, it takes first place and the vast majority (88 percent) are satisfied with the cultural offerings and nightlife in Spain; compared to the global average, the average is 68 percent. In the “Ease of Settling In Index”, Spain missed out on a place in the top ten (twelfth), but took sixth place in the “Culture & Welcome” subcategory. Four out of five expats (80 percent) feel at home on the Iberian Peninsula, 18 percentage points more than the global average (62 percent).
Spanish is also predominantly spoken in the third most popular expat country: Panama is in third place out of 53 destinations in 2023. The expatriates are particularly satisfied with the ease of settling in (fourth place): the country is in the top three in the two subcategories of finding friends (first place) and culture and welcome (second place). They also feel at home in Panama (81 percent versus 62 percent globally) and welcome (84 percent versus 67 percent globally).
Expat in Turkey, Norway or Kuwait: There are better alternatives
The bottom three in the ranking can feel less flattered: In Turkey (51st place), many expats complain about the situation on the job market, which is why the country on the Bosporus takes last place in the “Working Abroad Index”. Around one in four respondents (24 percent) is dissatisfied with their professional situation (compared to 16 percent worldwide). Norway, on the other hand, comes in second to last in the ranking due to the high cost of living (rated negatively by 62 percent) and the lack of friendliness towards foreigners (32 percent compared to 18 percent worldwide).
Only Kuwait is rated even worse by expats: the country ranks last in the world in terms of quality of life (rank 53). Expats are particularly dissatisfied with their leisure options (53rd place). And almost half (49 percent) feel that they cannot express themselves and their opinions openly – more than three times as many as the global average (15 percent). The availability (47th place), the affordability (45th place) and the quality (46th place) of healthcare also leave a lot to be desired.
Expat city ranking: Spanish trio at the top
Spanish is also spoken in the cities rated best by expats. The top trio consists of Málaga, Alicante and Valencia. According to the survey, what all three have in common is that friendly people live in them and are particularly friendly to non-Spanish people. Not surprisingly, it’s easier to make friends this way. But the expats surveyed also gave the Spanish trio a good to very good rating when it came to general quality of life, healthcare, work-life balance and finding affordable living space. Ras Al Khaimah (Arab Emirates), Abu Dhabi (Arab Emirates), Madrid (Spain), Mexico City (Mexico), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand) and Muscat (Oman) complete the top ten.
Those surveyed rated the end of the list of 49 cities as decidedly less expat-friendly: Vancouver, Rome and Milan can be found here. While on the Canadian west coast there are social and financial factors that make life difficult for expats, in Italian cities it is mainly the complicated bureaucracy as well as poor pay and a lack of career opportunities. Large German cities don’t do particularly well in the ranking either: Frankfurt (37th) and Munich (38th) make it just ahead of New York City (39th), but Berlin (45th) and Hamburg (46th) almost finish at the end of the list.