High levels of job satisfaction

Luxembourg’s meteoric rise up the ranking was largely down to improved rankings for the job and career segment, in which Luxembourg City jumped an incredible 41 spots, to occupy seventh place.

The report found that “a larger share of expats (74% vs 64% globally) report overall job satisfaction than in 2018 (67% vs 65% globally). Expats (66% vs 51% globally) are now also happier with their local career opportunities than in 2018 (59% vs 51% globally).”

But it wasn’t all rosy--the proportion of respondents satisfied with their work-life balance fell from 69% in 2018 to 63% a year later. And the city slipped from first place to third for job security.

Ease of finding new friends

The city rose 11 places in the “getting settled” category to occupy 25th place. It jumped 14 places for friends and socialising, 10 places for feeling welcome and eight places for local language. It rose just one place for local friendliness.

There was a larger share of expats who found it easy to find new friends in 2019 than in 2018 (61% up from 53%). And proportionally more expats said they felt at home in the city (73% up from 69%).

The pain point

Luxembourg City lost two places in the housing category, almost certainly because of the spiralling costs related to house.

“The cost of living (62nd) and cost of housing (64th), is one of Luxembourg City’s major pain points,” the report found. Six out of ten expats were not satisfied with the cost of living and three quarters found housing in the capital unaffordable.

According to one respondent, the city suffers from an “overrated price of real estate.” This statement reflects a general and well-documented unease in the country over spiralling house prices.

The decline was diluted by overall satisfaction with finances--the proportion of respondents who said they had more than enough to cover their living costs, rose from 54% to 60%.

Lagging in leisure

Of all the four sections, Luxembourg City experienced its biggest drop in the sub-segments of the quality of urban living category. Under leisure and climate, it dropped five places to 75th place, transportation declined six places, to 40th.

Luxembourg City clinged onto a place in the top 10 for safety and politics, in which it fell seven places to occupy tenth place. And it fell two places for the health and environment sub segment.

Winners and losers

Based on the ranking, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Montréal, Lisbon, Barcelona, Zug, the Hague and Basel were the best citiy to move to. The world’s worst cities, meanwhile, were Kuwait City, Rome, Milan, Lagos, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Lima, New York City, and Yangon.

The 2019 Expat City Ranking was published on Tuesday. It is based on the findings of the annual Expat Insider Survey commissioned by expat organisation Internations polling more than 20,000 expats living in 187 countries or territories.