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Bahrain loses title of world’s best destination for expats

Bahrain has lost its title as the world’s best destination for expats after falling six places in the latest Expat Insider survey.

After topping the InterNations list in 2018 and 2017, Bahrain fell to seventh out of 64 countries analysed, as concerns over working hours and job security weighed.

Kuwait was named the worst country in the survey while Oman ranked 32nd and the UAE 40th.

Bahrain slumped 17 places to 18th in the Working Abroad Index while remaining in the top 10 countries for career prospects and job satisfaction.

Expat parents are also slightly less happy, ranking Bahrain 13th out of 36 countries in the Family Life Index while expats still have no issues with settling into the country and find it easy to make friends without speaking the local language.

With the exception of 2017, when it ranked second to last, Kuwait has consistently been ranked by InterNations as the worst country for expats.

More than half the respondents (51 percent) said they do not feel at home in the local culture and 63 percent claim that making local friends is hard. What is more, the country is said to offer a low quality of life (63rd), with a majority of expats unhappy with the available leisure activities.

For Oman, expats ranked the country first for Safety and Security while it also topped the list for Friendliness, with 87 percent saying locals were welcoming.

However, Oman only comes in a mediocre 35th place out of 64 in terms of quality of life while only 42 percent are satisfied with both their career prospects and their job security and expats
raising children in Oman are particularly unhappy with the availability of leisure activities for kids.

Oman has also fallen 17 places in the Personal Finance Index with less than three in five expats still rating their financial situation positively.

The UAE was ranked one of the world’s worst countries for personal finance (61st), according to expats, 25 percent of whom said they are unhappy with their financial situation while 34 percent feel that their disposable household income is not enough to cover all living expenses.

Expats parents said they also struggle with the high costs in the UAE but the UAE is considered a very safe country for expats and their children, ranking 6th globally.

Taiwan, Vietnam and Portugal were ranked the top three expat destinations in the world.

InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with 3.6 million members, received more than 20,000 respondents for the survey which offers in-depth information about expats’ satisfaction with the quality of life, ease of settling in, working life, personal finance, cost of living, and family life in their respective country of residence.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/culture-society/427326-bahrain-loses-title-of-worlds-best-destination-for-expats