Bahrain best for expats

Bahrain, expatriates say, is offering them and their families a better quality life beating 57 other top destinations around the world, a new survey finds. In terms of “working abroad and family life”, the survey by Expat Insider says, expats are “generally happy” and is also “finding it easy to settle in this country.” The Kingdom achieved this feat despite losing some grounds in the form of six ranks while continuing in the top ten countries for career prospects and job satisfaction (10th).

The survey ranks Bahrain 26th in the Quality of Life index, 13th in Family life index, 2nd in Ease of settling in Index, 18th in Working abroad index, 22nd in Personal Finance Index and 29th out of 64 in the Cost of Living Index. At the other end of the ranking, Kuwait (64th out of 64), Italy, and Nigeria are the worst destinations for expats in 2019. While Kuwait is the country where expats find it hardest to settle in, Italy offers the worst work-life and Nigeria the worst quality of life in the world.

The annual survey by InterNations approached 20,259 expats representing 182 nationalities and living in 187 countries or territories for information on various aspects of expat life. Participants were asked to rate up to 48 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of one to seven.

On life in Bahrain, expats, the survey says, seem to be less satisfied with their working hours (3rd in 2018 to 27th in 2019) and their job security (5th to 19th) Sixty-two per cent of the respondents are happy with the state of the economy, which is just about the global average (63pc). Expat parents are also slightly less happy, ranking Bahrain 13th out of 36 countries in the Family Life Index (vs. 7th out of 50 countries in 2018).

Friendly attitude

Still, more than nine in ten parents (93pc) rate the friendly attitude towards families with children positively (vs. 81pc globally) and expats keep having no issues with settling in in their new country (2nd).

Easy to settle down

More than four in five respondents (82pc) told the survey it is easy to settle down in Bahrain (vs. 59pc globally).

Easy to make friends

They find it easy to make friends (68pc vs. 54pc globally) and to live in the country without speaking the local language (94pc vs. 45pc globally). Coming out first on the list is Taiwan, which is rated best in the world for the affordability of healthcare. Vietnam, Portugal, Mexico, Spain and Singapore follow Taiwan in the rankings.

Vietnam is voted the second-best country for expats in 2019, after ranking 14th out of 68 destinations in 2018. The UK ranks 58th out of 64 countries in the Expat Insider 2019 survey amid ongoing Brexit uncertainty: it has fallen 14 places in terms of political stability, now ranking among the ten worst countries in the world for this factor (57th).