A new report shows that Ottawa, Canada, has emerged as the leading city in the world for expats to live, with Cape Town in South Africa ranked as the worst city for expats.
Seventy cities were judged by German online mortgage broker, LoanLink, on 24 criteria across the four categories of environment and urbanisation, family and society, experience and economics.
Canada’s capital Ottawa topped the company’s Expat City Index 2019, scoring well for air pollution, English proficiency, and house price to income ratio.
Canberra, Australia, ranks second overall on the index with the Australian capital noted for its ‘excellent’ work-life balance, with an average 38-hour working week. New Zealand’s capital Wellington was third. Another Canadian city, Toronto, was third.
in the UK (and indeed Europe as a whole), Glasgow ranks as the best city for expats, placing fifth globally. In terms of countries, the UK also ranks ahead of Australia and New Zealand for healthcare expenditure.
Washington DC ranks highest in the US for expats, while San Francisco and New York both rank ahead of UK capital, London, boasting better quality of life. London fares badly for expats searching for an outdoors lifestyle with its minimal hours of sunshine and high traffic congestion.
However, the UK capital ranks third on the index for its start-up ecosystem, and is noted to be home to an ‘impressive’ number of co-working spaces, investors, and venture funding.
Cape Town, South Africa, ranks last on the index. While Cape Town has a strong House Price to Income Ratio, the city has poor Safety, Traffic Congestion, and Unemployment. The Indian duo of Mumbai and New Delhi, the Turkish city of Istanbul and Shanghai in China completed the bottom five places on the table.
Article published 21st August 2019