Barcelona, seventh best city in the world to move to in 2020
Of Barcelona , the expatriates surveyed in the Expat City Ranking stand out the climate, access to health, the leisure offer and the ease of settling in a city in which 77% feel at home and find it easy to get used to the local culture, 73% say they are satisfied with their social life and 60% find it easy to make friends.
All this has earned the city of Barcelona to take over the seventh place of a study that analyzed 82 cities. If you have not managed to climb more positions it is because expatriates are not so satisfied with the job opportunities offered by Barcelona or with the housing issue. And it is that 55% find it unaffordable and 33% maintain that expatriates have a hard time finding a home.
Produced by InterNations, a worldwide community of expatriates that brings together more than 3.5 million members, the results of the Expat City Ranking are obtained from **the annual Expat Insider survey** in which they have participated more than 20,000 people of 178 nationalities residing in 187 countries or territories. The interviewees were asked to rate 25 aspects of urban life abroad giving them scores from one to seven.
With these qualifications, four main indices were created on urban quality of life, finances and housing, urban work life and finally, what is it like to settle in the city. Based on them, the 82 cities around the world were classified, in which a minimum sample of 50 participants was required in each.
A) Yes, Madrid , the other Spanish city analyzed in this index, is located in the position 17 thanks to welcome given to expatriates. In fact, 81% consider that it is easy to get used to the local culture, 78% say they feel at home and 79% consider the population of Madrid to be friendly. Leisure activities, access to the health system and the quality of public transport they also help to position it at the top of the table.
Infographic with the best and worst cities for expats
Just like Barcelona the capital falters when it comes to working life, with 36% of respondents dissatisfied with the job opportunities offered and 33% concerned about their stability.
In the economic aspect, Madrid does not come out very well either, since 29% maintain that they do not have enough income to meet their daily expenses and 32% are dissatisfied with their financial situation.
Returning to the beginning of the Expat City Ranking table, in addition to Barcelona, we find ** Taipei , Kuala Lumpur , Ho Chi Minh City , Singapore , Montreal , Lisbon , Zug , The Hague and Basel ** ; showing a clear dominance of Asian cities in the top positions. As a noteworthy fact, no town on the American continent, except Montreal, sneaks into the remaining positions of this TOP 10 covered by European cities.
Each of them has obtained good scores in aspects related to working life, urban life, local cost of living and the interviewees are satisfied with the ease of establishing themselves in the majority.
The other extreme of the classification, the lower positions, are occupied by Kuwait (82), Rome, Milan, Lagos, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Lima, New York and Rangoon.
You can check the complete TOP 10 and the reasons that have made them the best cities for expatriates in 2020 in our gallery.