A survey by the German network, Internations, revealed that one-third of the expatriates arriving in Kuwait have changed their plans due to COVID-19 crisis and now plan to leave the country sooner than expected, either to return to their homeland or search for another country to settle in.
The Expat Insider 2021 annual survey among expatriates living abroad ranks countries according to their attractiveness to those wishing to immigrate, reside and work in them. For the seventh year running, Kuwait ranked at the bottom among the 58 countries surveyed this year.
As for the sub-indicators, Kuwait ranked last in the world in terms of quality of life, entertainment options, personal happiness, travel, and mobility, and it is also the worst destination for expats in terms of ease of settling, as 46 percent of them expressed their lack of feeling integrated into the local culture.
Fifty-one percent of expatriates said it was difficult to make new friends, while 62 percent saw difficulty forming friends with citizens in particular. In the Health and Safety sub-index, Kuwait ranked 56th in the world, 39th in security and safety, 49th in digital life, and 58th in environmental quality.
Globally, the survey ranked Taiwan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, Ecuador, Canada, and Vietnam as the best places to expatriate, live, and work in 2021, based on the cost of living, ease of stability and overall quality of life. The United States ranked 34 out of 59 countries, largely due to expats’ view of America’s quality of life.
Taiwan topped the index for the third year in a row. In contrast, the survey ranked Kuwait, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Egypt, Japan, Cyprus, Turkey, India, and Malta as the worst countries for expats in the world.