CYPRUS has come 45th out of 64 destinations in the Expat Insider 2019 survey published on Thursday, falling 15 places since last year’s survey when it was 30th out of 68.
Expats are not only considerably less satisfied with the quality of life in the country, in which category the ranking changed from 27th to 43rd, but also with their personal finances (36th to 54th).
While Cyprus also dropped 11 places in the Ease of Settling In Index, it still achieved a good 23rd place worldwide in this ranking, which involved questions such as feeling at home, finding friends, friendliness and language.
More than seven in ten expats (72 per cent) find it easy to settle down in the country (vs. 59 per cent globally).
However, it seems like making new friends is more challenging than before: not quite two-thirds (66 per cent) said that this was easy in 2018, compared with 58 per cent in 2019.
In the Quality of Life Index, Cyprus was the biggest loser, dropping for nearly all factors. Only 61 per cent of expats in Cyprus rate the available leisure activities positively, a result well below that of 2018 when 77 per cent said the same.
“It is a boring place if you are middle-aged and single,” a German respondent in Cyprus pointed out. Moreover, only four out of nine expats in Cyprus (44 per cent) find healthcare affordable, compared with 57 per cent in 2018. The quality of medical care seems to have decreased as well: nearly five in nine (55 per cent) still rated this factor positively, a result ten percentage points below that of 2018.
The same was true for the Personal Finance Index (from 36th to 54th): 70 per cent of expats in Cyprus were satisfied with their financial situation in 2018, but just 53 per cent in 2019. Only about two in five (39 per cent) stated that their disposable household income was more than enough to cover daily life in 2019, compared with 49 per cent globally.
Taiwan, Vietnam, and Portugal were ranked the best expat destinations: all of them attracting expats with their ease of settling in and good personal finances. While expats in Taiwan and Portugal were also extremely satisfied with the quality of life, those in Vietnam appreciate a great work-life balance. At the other end of the ranking, Kuwait, Italy, and Nigeria are the worst destinations for expats in 2019.
With the exception of 2017, when it ranked second to last, Kuwait has consistently been ranked as the worst country for expats, and 2019 was no exception. While Kuwait is the country where expats find it hardest to settle in, Italy offered the worst work-life balance, and Nigeria the worst quality of life.
For its annual Expat Insider survey, InterNations asked 20,259 expats representing 182 nationalities and living in 187 countries or territories to provide information on various aspects of expat life, as well as their gender, age, and nationality. Participants were asked to rate up to 48 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of one to seven.
With 3.6 million members in 420 cities around the world, InterNations) is the largest global community and information site for people who live and work abroad. For more info see www.internations.org