Budapest among the best cities to live in as an expat
The Expat City Ranking 2021 reveals the best and worst cities for expats around the world including Budapest. Based on the results, out of 57 cities in the Expat City Ranking 2021, Budapest ranks 32nd.
Main results:
• Kuala Lumpur (1st), Málaga, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Mexico City, Basel,
and Madrid (10th) are the top 10 cities for expats to live in 2021.• On the other hand, expats consider Rome (57th), Milan, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Tokyo, Cairo, Paris,
Maastricht, Moscow, and New York (48th) the world’s worst cities to live in.
Budapest ranks 32nd out of 57 in the Expat City Ranking 2021 by InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with over 4 million members. Expats vote the city among the global top 10 for the local cost of living, as well as finance and housing. However, the quality of life and working life receive only mediocre results, and expats also
struggle with getting settled in Budapest.
The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations, which is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, with 12,420 respondents in 2021. This year, 57 cities around the globe are analyzed in the survey, which offers in-depth information about five areas of expat life:
- Quality of Urban Living,
- Getting Settled,
- Urban Work Life,
- Finance & Housing, and
- Local Cost of Living.
Here is when you can catch a light tram in Budapest! – PHOTOS
Together, the first four topics make up the Expat City Ranking, which reveals the best and worst cities for expats to live in. Budapest ranks 32nd out of 57 in the Expat City Ranking 2021 but lands in the top 10 of the Local Cost of Living (6th) and Finance & Housing (9th) Indices. Over two in three expats (68%) are satisfied with the cost of living in Budapest (vs. 48% globally), and 80% say that their disposable household income is enough or more than enough to cover their expenses (vs. 77% globally). Housing is not just affordable (57% vs. 42% globally) but also easy to find (70% vs. 60% globally).
While Budapest lands in an average 35th place
in the Quality of Urban Living Index, it only ranks 51st in the Health & Environment Subcategory. “Healthcare services are weak, and emergency healthcare is especially poor,” notes a British expat. In fact, 35% are unhappy with the quality of medical care (vs. 14% globally), and 21% rate the availability of healthcare negatively (vs. 11% globally). The city also
receives below-average results in the Urban Work Life Index (39th), where expats are particularly unhappy with the state of the local economy (32% vs. 19% globally). On the other hand, job security (65% vs. 61% globally) and local career opportunities (50% vs. 45% globally) are rated positively. Overall,
73% are satisfied with their job in general, compared to 68% globally.
However, Budapest performs poorly in the Getting Settled Index (45th), and expats consider
Hungarian the hardest local language to learn. Close to nine in ten (86%) find this difficult (vs. 42%
globally), 56% even very much so (vs. 16% globally). “It is a language that takes years to be able to speak
at an elementary level,” shares a Venezuelan expat. Despite this, expats find it easy to make new friends
(51% vs. 48% globally) and feel quite at home in Budapest (66% vs. 65% globally).
Winter Food Fest – New street food festival in Budapest!
About the Expat City Ranking 2021
The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations. For the survey, InterNations asked 12,420 expats representing 174 nationalities and living in 186 countries or territories to provide information on various aspects of expat life, as well as their gender, age, and nationality. In addition to their satisfaction with life in their host country, respondents were also invited to share their opinions on the city they are currently living in.
Participants were asked to rate more than 25 different aspects of urban life abroad on a scale of one to seven. The rating process emphasized the respondents’ personal satisfaction with these aspects, considering both emotional topics and more factual aspects with equal weight. The respondents’ ratings of the individual factors were then bundled in various combinations for a total of 13 subcategories, and their mean values were used to draw up four topical indices: Quality of Urban Living, Getting Settled, Urban Work Life, and Finance & Housing. These were further averaged in order to rank all cities worldwide that had the required number of participants for the minimum sample size. (The survey also includes a Local Cost of Living Index, which does, however, not factor into the overall ranking to avoid overrepresenting financial aspects.) In 2021, the top 10 cities for expats are Kuala Lumpur (1st), Málaga, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Mexico City, Basel, and Madrid (10th).
For a city to be featured in the Expat City Ranking 2021, a sample size of at least 50 survey participants
per city was required. In total, 57 cities met this requirement.
About InterNations
With more than 4 million members in 420 cities around the world, InterNations is the largest global community and a source of information for people who live and work abroad. InterNations offers global and local networking and socializing, both online and face to face. At around 6,000 events and activities per month, expatriates have the opportunity to meet other global minds. Online services include discussion forums and helpful articles with personal expat experiences, tips, and information about life abroad. Membership is by approval only to ensure we remain a community of trust. InterNations is part of the NEW WORK SE, a group of brands that offer products and services for a better working life.
