The InterNations Expat Insider for 2022 has ranked Johannesburg as the worst city in the world for expats to settle intp.
Johannesburg did not fare too well on the index for expats. Picture: Getaway Gallery
The ranking is based on a survey run by InterNations, polling expats on their views of various destinations across five topics: Quality of life, Ease of settling in, Working abroad, Personal finance, and Expat essentials.
Cape Town also made an appearance and took the 32nd spot and Johannesburg placed last, taking the 50th spot.
A total of 11 970 expats participated in the 2022 survey, representing 177 nationalities and living in 181 countries or territories.
Picture: InterNations
Expats in Johannesburg reported extreme unhappiness with the affordability and availability of public transportation. Close to three in five (59% of expats) do not find it accessible for travel via foot and bicycle (vs 13% globally) – and 32% of the participants even went as far as describing it extremely unsafe – eight times above the global average of (4%).
‘The city ranks last worldwide for personal safety in general: 62% do not feel safe in Johannesburg, compared to 9% globally,’ InterNations said.
Expats rated the local job market and their personal career opportunities negatively, and about a quarter (24%) say that moving here has not improved their career prospects.
The one bright side, InterNations said, is that at least housing is affordable, according to 46% of expats (vs 39% globally).
Cape Town’s performance in the ranking is, by comparison, far better – though the city is still not ranked particularly highly overall.
Picture: InterNations
Cape Town ranked 9th on the ‘Ease of Settling In’ index.’
Expats described local residents as generally friendly and find it easy to make local friends. ‘In fact, expats in Cape Town are happiest with their social life, with the city ranking first: 64% voted positively (vs 56% globally), and 42% are even completely satisfied (vs 23% globally),’ InterNations said.
Cape Town fared slightly better than Joburg in a few aspects. Picture: Getaway Gallery
Close to half of the expats (46%) are unhappy with the local job market (vs 27% globally), and 20% say that moving to Cape Town has not improved their career prospects. Additionally, job security is a major concern and the state of the economy was rated negatively (51% vs 17% globally).
For a country to be listed on the index and overall ranking, a sample size of at least 50 survey participants is required per destination. In 2022, 52 countries were ranked, with South Africa taking the 46th overall spot.
While safety and security remain a top concern for expats living in SA, they can still enjoy affordable housing and excellent leisure and social activities such as exploring the many Malls in Johannesburg.
You can check the full list here.
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