Survey says Oman is among the safest nations

Muscat – Oman is among the safest countries in the world for expatriates with the sultanate ranked fourth for personal safety and ranked ninth for political stability, according to the Expat Insider 2023 survey. Oman ranks 12th out of 53 destinations in the survey with the country ranking best in the Expat Essentials Index (third), where expats are especially happy with the housing situation.

About three in four (74%) say that housing is easy to find (vs 49% globally) and 61% find it affordable, compared to only 38% globally. They also find it easy to live in Oman without speaking the local language(s) (fourth). The Ease of Settling In Index (ranked tenth) is another highlight: 83% say that the locals are friendly towards foreign residents (vs 65% globally), and about two in three (66%) find it easy to make local friends (vs 43% globally).

“I like the polite people and neat and clean roads best,” the report quoted a South African ex-pat. An expat from Pakistan  said, “Oman is a very beautiful country with very beautiful people.”In the Quality of Life Index (24th), expats struggle with both the affordability (47th) and availability (47th) of public transportation, though there is good infrastructure for cars (fourth).

Expats rate Working Abroad (23rd) midfield: while they feel that moving to Oman has improved their career prospects (seventh), they find that the local business culture does not support flexibility (47th). Overall, 69% of expats are happy with their life in Oman, compared to 72% globally. However, the country ranks second-to-last for unrestricted access to online services, such as social media (52nd).

In the GCC, Bahrain is ranked the highest (ninth globally), followed by UAE (11th), Oman (12th), Saudi Arabia (28th), Qatar (31st) and Kuwait (53rd). Mexico (first), Spain, Panama, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Bahrain, and Portugal (tenth) are the best places for expats in 2023. On the other hand, expats consider Kuwait (53rd), Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Malta, New Zealand and Japan (44th) as the worst destinations for expats.

This is the tenth edition of the Expat Insider survey published by InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with more than 4.8mn members. With nearly 12,000 respondents, it provides insights into expat life in 53 destinations, offering in-depth information on the respondents’ satisfaction with their respective countries in five indices: Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, Personal Finance and the Expat Essentials Index.