Expat City Insider Report

The new Expat City Insider Report was published this week. Last year, more than 12,000 expats around the world were asked which city is the most liveable for them. They were asked about the quality of life, administration, settling in, career opportunities, cost of living, and security.?

In the top 10 city rankings, it is striking that two cities (Valencia and Madrid) come from Spain and two cities, Dubai and Abu-Dhabi, from the United Arab Emirates. Not surprisingly, Singapore is also in the top 10, as is Melbourne. The Australian metropolis has long been one of the most popular cities with the highest standard and quality of living.

For Germany, Frankfurt is reserved as one of the back places. Berlin and Munich barely make it into the midfield. While Munich scores with good incomes and career opportunities, in Berlin it is above all the quality of life, recreational value, and the comparatively low cost of living that are important.

Overall, many foreign employees complain about the slow administration, the lack of digitalization in many areas of public administration, and the often poor English skills of Germans, which does not exactly make it easier to settle in and establish social ties with the locals.?

As someone who has lived and worked abroad for over ten years and was an expat myself, I fully understand these criticisms all too well. Even if things shift in a geopolitical world since 2022, the trend towards migration will remain in my view. People will move to other countries for economic or professional reasons. Last but not least, climate change will also contribute to this phenomenon. Countries that are also looking for skilled workers for demographic reasons are therefore well advised to set up their administrations in such a way that they support the needs of expats so that ideally expats may stay forever and become new citizens.

Together with my colleagues Vishwajeet Singh and Sai prudhvi mohan Kanchumarthy , I advise Master's students not only on choosing universities in Germany but also on relocation and finding suitable jobs.