Over 87 million folks are estimated to reside as expats throughout the globe, and plenty of of them have moved abroad in the hunt for a greater high quality of life.
Worldwide consulting agency Mercer not too long ago ranked Zurich as the perfect location for expats based mostly on financial, social, and environmental elements.
The corporate launched its annual High quality of Residing Metropolis Rating, evaluating cities with the perfect residing circumstances for worldwide employees. Mercer considers elements resembling political stability, well being care, training, infrastructure, and cultural setting.
“This yr, Zurich, Switzerland, takes the highest place, fueled by its excellent public companies, low crime charges, and a vigorous cultural scene, all backed by environment friendly infrastructure and a dedication to sustainability,” the report reads, stating that the Swiss metropolis has added a number of new direct flight routes to and from different continents enhancing its connectivity.
Switzerland’s largest metropolis serves as a world monetary hub the place over 400,000 folks, or about 28 % of its inhabitants, are foreign-born. It’s divided into 12 districts, with the Outdated City courting again over 2,000 years at its coronary heart.
Earlier this yr, Zurich was additionally named the world’s smartest metropolis for its progressive integration of latest applied sciences, which improves city life. The celebrated Economist Intelligence Unit highlighted it because the third most livable metropolis in 2024, with good scores within the training and healthcare classes.
Nonetheless, if you happen to’re contemplating shifting there, remember the fact that it has additionally repeatedly ranked as certainly one of the priciest cities on the earth. Mercer identifies it because the third most costly place to reside, behind Hong Kong and Singapore.
Switzerland has probably the most cities — 4 — among the many prime ten in Mercer’s 2024 report. Geneva climbed two spots this yr to 3rd place, whereas Bern and Basel improved their standing by 4 and at the moment are ninth and tenth, respectively.
Vienna, which topped the rating final yr, dropped to second place in 2024. Nonetheless, the Austrian capital presents a very good stability of high quality of life and affordability, because it ranked twenty fourth for value of residing.
Auckland (fifth) and Vancouver (seventh) are the one non-European cities within the prime ten. Boston (thirty second) is the highest-ranking American metropolis on the record, which highlights 241 cities worldwide.
The worst cities for expats this yr are Bangui, Central African Republic (239th), Baghdad, Iraq (240th), and Khartoum, Sudan (241st).
You may learn the whole report and its findings on mercer.com.