Expat Insider: Kuala Lumpur and Malaga are the best cities for expats (Malaysia), Malaga (Spain), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Sydney (Australia) and Singapore. These are the conclusions reached by analysts in the annual Expat Insider 2021 ranking.
The worst for foreigners, according to researchers, were Rome and Milan (Italy), Johannesburg (South Africa), Istanbul (Turkey) and Tokyo ( Japan).
A year earlier, the Russian capital was one of the twenty best cities for expats, and in the new list it takes 49th place out of 57. According to all the key research criteria, Moscow did not rise above the 40th line. Learning the local language seemed the most difficult for foreigners, according to this indicator, the largest city in Russia took 55th place. About 60 percent of those surveyed recognized the difficulties in mastering Russian, and only 25 percent decided that in Moscow it is possible to do without knowing the language.
The balance between life and work also seemed weak to expats – this criterion left the capital in 50th place, in 27 percent of respondents complained about him. In terms of the financial situation of foreign specialists, Moscow is in 45th place – 29 percent were dissatisfied with their income, and 32 percent called the salary insufficient to cover expenses.
Among other problems of life in the Russian capital, foreigners indicated difficulties with settling, and also remained dissatisfied with health care and the state of the environment. However, among the advantages of Moscow, expats noted the ease of making friends, the cost of living and transport infrastructure.
In 2020, Valencia, Alicante (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Panama City and Singapore were named the best cities for foreigners. Moscow then entered the top 20 for the first time, overtaking Luxembourg, Prague, Barcelona, New York and Berlin.