Dubai has been named as the third most popular city globally for expats.
Doha and Abu Dhabi were also in the top 20 of the Expat City Ranking 2021 by InterNations, ranked 15th and 16th respectively.
Dubai, which has a large expat population accounting for almost 90 per cent of the total, was beaten only by Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Malaga in southern Spain.
This year the annual city ranking by InterNations surveyed more than 12,000 expatriates representing 174 nationalities living in 186 countries or territories across the globe.
InterNations found that Dubai made it “easy for expats to get settled”.
“The respondents appreciate the lack of language barrier,” it said, with 94 per cent finding it easy to live in Dubai without having to speak to the local language.
In addition, 81 per cent of people described the local people as friendly towards foreign residents (versus 54 per cent globally) and 70 per cent said it was easy to adapt to the local culture (versus 65 per cent globally).
“Expats also benefit from an above-average quality of life. While Dubai misses out on the top 10 in the Quality of Urban Living Index (11th), it offers a safe and stable environment with good leisure options: 84 per cent rate the latter positively (vs. 72 per cent globally), while 97 per cent feel safe in Dubai (vs. 84 per cent globally).
