What do you think might be the most attractive city in the world for expats? Every year, AIRINC’s Global 150 Cities Index endeavours to come up with an answer.
Year-round assessment
To compile its index, AIRINC has an in-house survey team that continuously assesses the overall attractiveness, financial and lifestyle benefits that are offered by 150 cities around the world. They factor in local salary levels, tax rates, living costs, and living conditions to determine how appealing each location is to live in. So what are the results this year?
Top-ranked cities
The top 5 cities for Overall Attractiveness are (from first to fifth): Zurich, Geneva, Munich, Luxembourg and Berlin. Two Canadian cities (Calgary, Toronto) are ranked sixth and seventh. The highest ranked Asian city in this category is Singapore (eighth place). The bottom three are Port Au Prince (Haiti), Port Moresby (PNG) and Beirut. In the Lifestyle category, Prague placed first; Toronto and Tokyo shared second spot. Helsinki, Montreal and Zurich are all joint fourth. At the top of the Financial category, Manama (Bahrain), Zurich and George Town (Cayman Islands) are the world’s destinations. You can look at the complete list here.
In your humble opinion
But how would you personally gauge the attractiveness or liveability of a city? Perhaps we all have our own criteria when assessing a city. For example, some might think a developing city in Southeast Asia is ‘more attractive’ than a well-planned, eco-friendly city in Scandinavia. Perhaps because there are more business opportunities or just there is a more stimulating environment. Indeed, many members of our community have shared their positive experiences of life in other cities that don’t feature on the AIRINC lists or feature close to the bottom for Lifestyle or Overall Attractiveness. Indeed, Lagos is ranked 141st for Lifestyle yet a serial expat told us that her happiest memories were forged in the Nigerian capital. She attributed this to the close-knit community that formed close bonds due to the challenges they collectively faced. It begs the question – would she prefer to have lived in a city ranked in the top 10 of the AIRINC index?
