The Gulf state was the only Arab country to make the top ten list.
Qatar was ranked first in the Middle East and sixth worldwide in a list identifying the best countries to live and work in for expatriates, according to HSBC Expat Explorer Survey 2020.
No other Arab state made the top ten list, though Abu Dhabi (14) ranked the closest to Doha, followed by Bahrain (15) and Saudi Arabia (19).
World’s best place to live and work:
1.🇨🇭Switzerland
2.🇸🇬Singapore
3.🇳🇿NZ
4.🇩🇪Germany
5.🇪🇸Spain
6.🇶🇦Qatar
7.🇳🇱Netherlands
8.🇦🇺Australia
9.🇨🇦Canada
10.🇮🇪Ireland13.🇫🇷France
14.🇦🇪UAE
16.🇲🇾Malaysia
19.🇸🇦Saudi Arabia
26.🇺🇸US
27.🇮🇹Italy
28.🇬🇧UK(HSBC Expat’s annual survey, 2020)
— World Index (@theworldindex) February 5, 2021
The survey ran an annual study of nearly 20,000 overseas professionals “to identify global mobility trends and gather unique insights about the lives of those who relocate abroad for work,” John Hoddarn, head of HSBC Expat, said in a statement.
It is considered “the longest-running expat survey of its kind,” he added.
The HSBC survey was conducted between February 14 and March 22, when COVID-19 was at its peak globally and imposed a huge worldwide threat. Despite this, Qatar’s economy stood strong, obtaining the highest ranking in the MENA region.
“Qatar’s rapidly developing capital city of Doha – is a hive of commercial activity that is certainly making the world sit up and take notice,” HSBC said in an overview about Qatar.
“Once home to a pearl industry, Qatar has since managed to blossom in its arid surroundings emerging as a powerful global player and boasting one of the highest incomes per capita in the world,” it added.
This highlights the country’s booming economy despite the pandemic challenges, making it one of the richest in the world based on GDP per capita.
Last month, Qatar ranked 430 out of 431 entries in the Current Crime Index 2021, making it the second safest country from hundreds worldwide. Rank one is for the least safest city.
The city registered only 12.04 on the crime index and a high 87.96 on the safety index, according to the ‘Crime Index by City 2021’ report by Numbeo.
Numbeo is the world’s largest database of users, including information on cities and countries worldwide. It provides current and timely information on world living conditions, such as cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution.
Read also: Qatar ranked 2nd in GCC for transparency and anti-corruption
Also last month, Qatar scored 63 out of 100 points in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 (CPI), occupying second place in the GCC for transparency and anti-corruption.
On a global level, Doha ranked 30 out of 180 countries surveyed in that index.
According to Transparency International, “the 2020 edition of the CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives. It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean)”.
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