The best country in the world to live and work 外籍眼中最适合生活工作的国家和城市

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The reputations of the US and UK as good places to live and work are in free fall among some of the world’s most mobile and cosmopolitan people.

Since last year’s presidential and Brexit votes, both the US and Britain are perceived as less friendly to foreigners and less politically stable, according to a survey of almost 13,000 expatriates of 166 nationalities. Expats also say the two countries’ quality of life is declining by other measures, especially the affordability of child care and health care in the US and housing in the UK.

The Expat Insider survey is conducted each year by InterNations, a network of 2.8 million expats based in Munich. It aims to capture the views of millions of executives, skilled workers, students and retirees who live outside the country where they grew up. There are about 50 million expats worldwide, according to market research by Finaccord, and the number is expected to hit 60 million over the next five years. They often have a choice of where they want to live, and their opinions matter to countries that want to attract talented and affluent people.

The top-ranked country in 2017 is Bahrain, given high marks by its expats as a place to work and raise a family and for making foreigners feel welcome. It vastly outranks Persian Gulf neighbours such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which ranked in the bottom 10 of the 65 countries in the survey.

Greece was at the very bottom of the list, weighed down by the country’s economic problems. Australia, which ranked in the top 10 last year, dropped more than any other country, to 34th place. Expats’ ratings of jobs, career prospects, work hours and work-life balance all dropped. 

One of the expats’ favourite places to work is China, where two-thirds of respondents are happy with their careers. But China ranks 55 out of 65 overall because of quality of life. Expats, especially those with children, are concerned about the severe pollution and the quality and cost of health care and education.

The UK ranks 54, down 21 places from last year’s survey, after its June 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Before the referendum, 77 percent of expats in the UK had a favourable opinion of the nation’s political stability - down to 47 percent this year.  (The survey was conducted in February and March, before the most recent British election.) Just half of expats say the UK has a good attitude toward foreign residents, compared to 67 percent worldwide.

Oh, and the weather. Three in five expats don’t like it.

The US seems to have lost some lustre after a year of political volatility, said Malte Zeeck, a founder and co-chief executive officer of InterNations. Just 36 percent of expats have a positive opinion of America’s political stability, down from 68 percent in last year’s survey.

Overall, the US is ranked 43rd of 65 contenders, 17 places lower than last year. But its reputation was already falling before the election results came in. As recently as 2014’s survey, the US was No. 5. One bright spot is that 69 percent of expats have a favourable view of the American economy. 

Current political issues are evident in the results: Some 72 percent of expats in the US say health care is unaffordable, and the US ranks 50 by measures of health and well-being. Its transportation infrastructure was rated “very good” by just 15 percent of the expats, less than half of the global average. The US ranks last for affordability of child care and 39 out of 45 countries ranked for education affordability.

Here is the top 10 list:

1. Manama, Bahrain

2. Prague, Czech Republic

3. Madrid, Spain

4. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

5. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

6. Barcelona, Spain

7. Johannesburg, South Africa

8. Bangkok, Thailand

9. Basel, Switzerland

10. Frankfurt

外籍眼中最适合生活工作的国家和城市

全球有数以百万计的人不再生活和工作在他们出生的城市或国家。移民网络Internations每年都会调查这些移民在新家园的经历。调查内容包括生活和工作的25个指标，从而评选出外国移民心目中，最适合生活和工作的城市。

中国大陆排名55位。外籍员工在中国的收入排名全球第6 。但是老外普遍觉得无法融入中国，生活质量也有待提高。

排名54位的是英国，比去年下跌21位，英国脱欧公投是原因之一。

美国排名43位，比去年下跌17位。

德国和去年的结果相比下跌了6位，排在第23名。原因是外籍员工觉得德国人比较冷漠、德语难学、不适应德国天气、另外房租等生活成本上涨。

下面是前十名

1. 巴林麦纳麦

当地人友好，语言障碍小，物价便宜（排名第四的最便宜的城市），在这个波斯湾国家首都的外国人同样有很多工作机会。

2. 捷克布拉格

不仅是便宜的留学目的地，给外国移民提供的工作机会也很多。在包括职业机会，工作安全感以及生活和工作的平衡度方面一系列有关工作的指标中，布拉格仅次于阿姆斯特丹，据全球第2。不足点是捷克语非常难学。

3. 西班牙马德里

马德里以其生活品质令人印象深刻。良好的天气条件，优秀的医疗保健制度，丰富的娱乐休闲设施，当地居民也非常友善。但是当地经济和就业机会对于外国移民更为负面。

4. 吉隆坡马来西亚

大多数人能说英语，融入容易，而且生活成本非常低，交通系统和社会治安也不错。

5. 荷兰阿姆斯特丹

就业市场有优势，是工作与生活最能达到平衡的城市。当地人非常友善，不管是寻找朋友还是学习语言都非常容易。

6. 西班牙巴塞罗那

天气条件好，休闲设施齐全，生活质量全球排名第四，但是生活不便宜，就业机会也不多。

7. 南非约翰内斯堡

最容易融入当地社会，天气也非常不错，有很多休闲设施。但是就业市场还有待改进。

8. 泰国曼谷

生活成本低廉，租金低廉，居民友善。但是就业市场不太好，总体生活质量还不够高。

9. 瑞士巴塞尔

瑞士和德国边境小城巴塞尔，生活质量方面，在这个排名中名列第一，另外移民同样在社会治安，当地政治方面给了高分。交通系统排名第4，但是在迅速融入当地人方面，表现略差。

10. 法兰克福

以其稳固的就业市场获得高分。专家认为全球只有五个城市的劳动力市场比法兰克福给移民提供的就业和创业机会更多，而工作稳定性方面更是高居全球第二名。当然，作为大都市，住房市场和生活成本也挺高。

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