Salmiya ranked bottom rung on ladder

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 28: The latest Expat Insider report by InterNations ranked Salmiya as the worst city in the world for expats, with a rank of 66/66 followed by Rome, which came in 65th, and Seoul, which ranked 64th. In a new ranking by InterNations Spain’s third-largest city Valencia has been named the best destination for expatriates, reports Al-Rai daily quoting https://www.internations.org

The Expat City Ranking 2020, done after an extensive survey, has ranked three other Spanish cities in the top ten – Alicante (2nd), Málaga (6th) and the capital Madrid (9th). Ranking 8th, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) has made it in the top ten for a fourth successive year while Abu Dhabi, taking the 10th spot, is the best-rated Middle Eastern destination this year, according to the ranking.

The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations, considered the largest global community with some four million members in 420 cities around the globe. With such a diverse membership, InterNations is seen as a valuable source of information for people who live and work abroad.

According to InterNations report, Salmiya does not only rank last in the Expat City Ranking in general, but it is also the worst rated city in the Getting Settled Index (66th out of 66). Indeed, the Kuwaiti city places last or second to last in three out of four subcategories in this index, with only the Local Language subcategory getting a better – but still below- average – result (40th).

The majority of respondents doesn’t feel at home in Salmiya (54% v/s 21% globally), finds it hard to make new friends (59% v/s 33% globally), and disagrees that it is easy to get used to the local culture (52% v/s 21% globally).