Bahrain best for settling in, expatriates tell a new survey
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Expatriates are finding Bahrain as the best in the Middle East when it comes to Ease of settling in. According to a new report, Oman is the only other GCC country on the ranking, which also places Bahrain as fifth among world nations.
The Expat Insider report, which ranks countries based on how easy they are for foreign nationals to live in, says that Bahrain narrowly misses out on the world top 10 countries.
Among the GCC countries surveyed by InterNations, Bahrain led the rankings in 12th place, followed by Qatar at 17, UAE at 18, Oman at 24 and Saudi Arabia at 42. Most expats (87%) find it easy to live in Bahrain without speaking the local language (vs 54% globally).
Feel at home
Moreover, 77% of expats told the survey that they feel at home in the local culture (vs 63% globally), and 70% say it is easy to settle down in Bahrain (vs 62% globally).
“The people — locals and expats — are among the highlights of living in Bahrain,” the survey quotes a German expatriate as saying. More than half the expats in Bahrain (55%) said they have a social circle that consists of both expats and locals (vs 48% globally).
Another 40% said they are mostly friends with other expats (vs 32% globally), and just 5% mainly socialise with locals (vs 20% globally).
Bahrain, expatriates said, offers good career opportunities, with the Kingdom ranking 15 on the index in this regard, with Qatar not far behind in 19th place.
Career opportunities
More than half the expats (54%) said they are happy with the local career opportunities, almost ten percentage points more than the global average (45%).
“Bahrain offers an equal opportunity to everyone who wants to succeed and develop in any field of life or work. This is the place for anyone to try their luck,” a Pakistani expatriate told InterNations.
Additionally, 69% of respondents said they are satisfied with their job in general (vs 68% globally), and 63% rate their job security positively (vs 61% globally).
Healthcare
The report finds, in Bahrain, the most common fields expats work in are healthcare (11% vs 6% globally), energy and utilities (9% vs 2% globally), education (8% vs 12% globally), and hospitality (8% vs 3% globally).
Government services online
Most expats in Bahrain said they are also happy with the availability of government services online (83% vs 63% globally), the country’s political stability (84% vs 64% globally), and the quality of medical care in Bahrain (81% vs 71% globally).
However, the report points out that despite all these expats in full-time positions spend longer hours at the job than the global average: in Bahrain, the average workweek is even six hours longer (49.2 hours per week vs. 43.2 hours globally)!
The report also checks if these long hours at work are translating to financial security. When asked, respondents from Bahrain said they are satisfied with their financial situation in general with a slightly above-average share of 66% Vs 64% globally, helping the Kingdom at 29th place in the Personal Finance Index, which is also the best result in the region.
Cost of living
Exactly, half the expats (50%) rate the cost of living positively (vs 48% globally). But while 66% of expats are generally satisfied with their financial situation (vs 64% globally), another 31% say their disposable household income is not enough to cover all expenses (vs 23% globally).
In fact, 46% of expats in Bahrain have an income of up to 25,000 USD per year (vs 30% globally), while just 8% of respondents report an annual income ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 USD (vs 20% globally).
Government channels
The report also ranks official government channels as the major source of information of expats in Bahrain, especially when it comes to the official communication on COVID-19.
The survey attributes this liking to the government strict and early response to the pandemic and comparatively low infection rates.
Will stay in Bahrain
Around 63% of the survey respondents also state that COVID-19 has not disrupted their relocation plans. When it comes to GCC, the report points out that over a quarter of respondents in the UAE (26%), Qatar (28%), and Bahrain (30%) have decided not to move back home in the near future due to the pandemic.
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