Over 87 million individuals are estimated to stay as expats throughout the globe, and plenty of of them have moved abroad in quest of a greater high quality of life.
Worldwide consulting agency Mercer lately ranked Zurich as one of the best location for expats primarily based on financial, social, and environmental elements.
The corporate launched its annual High quality of Residing Metropolis Rating, evaluating cities with one of the best dwelling situations for worldwide staff. Mercer considers elements comparable to political stability, well being care, schooling, infrastructure, and cultural surroundings.
“This 12 months, Zurich, Switzerland, takes the highest place, fueled by its excellent public providers, low crime charges, and a vigorous cultural scene, all backed by environment friendly infrastructure and a dedication to sustainability,” the report reads, mentioning 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 worldwide monetary hub the place over 400,000 individuals, or about 28 p.c of its inhabitants, are foreign-born. It’s divided into 12 districts, with the Previous City courting again over 2,000 years at its coronary heart.
Earlier this 12 months, Zurich was additionally named the world’s smartest metropolis for its revolutionary integration of latest applied sciences, which improves city life. The distinguished Economist Intelligence Unit highlighted it because the third most livable metropolis in 2024, with excellent scores within the schooling and healthcare classes.
Nonetheless, in the event you’re contemplating shifting there, understand that it has additionally repeatedly ranked as certainly one of the priciest cities on the planet. Mercer identifies it because the third costliest place to stay, behind Hong Kong and Singapore.
Switzerland has essentially the most cities — 4 — among the many prime ten in Mercer’s 2024 report. Geneva climbed two spots this 12 months to 3rd place, whereas Bern and Basel improved their standing by 4 and are actually ninth and tenth, respectively.
Vienna, which topped the rating final 12 months, dropped to second place in 2024. Nonetheless, the Austrian capital gives an excellent stability of high quality of life and affordability, because it ranked twenty fourth for price of dwelling.
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 checklist, which highlights 241 cities worldwide.
The worst cities for expats this 12 months are Bangui, Central African Republic (239th), Baghdad, Iraq (240th), and Khartoum, Sudan (241st).
You’ll be able to learn the entire report and its findings on mercer.com.