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Dubai continues to prove its standing as a top city for work and living with a new Global Expat Index ranking the emirate as the 9th best in the world, with a score of 6.80, ahead of popular destinations such as Toronto and Sydney, and Lisbon.
The emirate also ranked third in Asia as a top city that expats will move to in 2024, with a score of 6.81, with Abu Dhabi landing on the 8th spot with a score of 6.09.
According to the findings by Preply, an online language learning marketplace, while Dubai is “famous for its luxury lifestyle,” its “cost of living is particularly high, at $3,787 per month.”
The report further states the average tax-free salary in Dubai is the second highest among all Asian cities, at $3,894. With the UAE’s favourable tax laws, with no income tax, means those earning more than $64,000 annually can benefit further, the report adds.
Dubai also ranked high on the safety score with 83.40, making it the third safest city in the ranking.
The average cost of living in neighbouring Abu Dhabi was $3,501, with the tax-free salary averaging $3,597. The UAE capital also ranked the highest in Asia in terms of safety, with a score of 86.71.
Other top expat cities
Topping the list with the highest overall expat score of 7.35 out of 10 was Tallinn, Estonia ranked as the best city for work and living.
Estonia’s capital city also scored a high safety index of 77 out of 100, placing it among the top 10 safest cities for expats.
Bern Switzerland ranked second (score of 7.32), followed by Singapore and Basel, Switzerland jointly occupying the third spot (7.08).
Top expat cities Toronto and Sydney jointly ranked on the 11th on the list with a score 6.76, while Lisbon was at 16 with a score of 6.54.
On the Asia index, Singapore took first place as an ideal city for expats looking for best-suited areas to move to in 2024, with a score of 7.20.
The top three positions were rounded off by Bangkok in at second place with a score of 6.96, followed by Dubai’s 6.81.
UAE a top draw for expats
Over recent years, Dubai has rapidly grown in popularity with expat workers and corporates, especially those who have embraced a more hybrid work culture following the pandemic.
The emirate was one of the first cities in the Gulf to capitalise on this growing demand for a hybrid setup by introducing its digital nomad visa scheme in March 2021.
The popularity of the one-year virtual working programme, which allows individuals and business owners who meet a certain criterion to live and work in the city, catapulted Dubai to second place in the 2021 Nomad List, a separate study featuring the world’s fastest-growing remote working destinations, with 150,275 user check ins recorded that year.
With Dubai attracting a growing talent pool, the city’s emerging fintech and financial services sectors are also proving to be powerful magnets for executive nomads.
Meanwhile, the UAE capital is currently witnessing a real estate boom courtesy the influx of digital nomads and expatriates in Abu Dhabi has led to a surge in property transactions in the UAE capital.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Daniel Luiz)
