Manama rated best for expats: survey

Manama : Bahrain has been ranked by expatriates as the easiest place to live in the world with the capital Manama scoring highest in the ‘Getting settled’ section, knocking several top destinations off the podium including Paris. 

The survey, by InterNations Expat City Ranking 2017, placed Manama as the favourite city for expats, ahead of 51 international destinations including Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg and many others. Overall, Paris ranks 49th on the list, ahead only of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Lagos, Nigeria.

“Welcoming atmosphere, friendliness of locals and good wages” were the factors that helped Bahrain take pole position in the survey. In 2016, Bahrain barely made the top 20, occupying the 19th slot. 

Respondents said, “They appreciate how easy it is to live in Manama without knowing the local language.” They also agreed “locals are welcoming and friendly towards foreign residents.”

The survey also identifies Manama as the “friendliest community for expats”.

“In stark contrast to Paris, which came at the end of the list as the most unfriendly city for expats, close to two-thirds (65 percent) of expats living in Manama said they’ve had few problems making new friends,” the survey finds. 

One of the respondents in Paris told the survey: “Most French people are not interested in making friends with people outside of their family and social milieu.”

And expats, the survey said, in Manama are twice as likely to have an annual household income of more than USD200,000 compared to respondents worldwide.

The survey is based on the responses of 7,985 expats across 40 countries who were asked to rate more than 25 aspects of urban life abroad that were broadly themed under indices like the quality of living, getting settled, urban work life, finance and housing.