Bahrain has taken the lead as the top destination in the Middle East region for expatriates to resettle and enjoy an exceptional quality of life, a new survey by HSBC revealed.

The kingdom received particularly good ratings across three major components: economics, experience and family, moving up by 12, five and four positions, respectively, compared to 2017, the 2018 HSBC Expat Explorer Survey added.

The primary drivers of this strong performance include wage growth, opportunities for career progression, work-life balance, job security, access to quality child care and the welcoming social fabric of Bahrain.

In the GCC, Bahrain is followed by the UAE (10th) and, at a considerable distance, Saudi Arabia (26th).

Each year, the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey serves as a trusted assessment of expats’ experiences in relocation and career growth across the world. In the 2018 survey, Bahrain surpassed its previous ranking of ninth in 2017, taking the fifth spot in the world this year, and the first in the Middle East, for expat satisfaction.

Dr Simon Galpin, managing director of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said: “We are consistently ranked as the top location in the Mena region to live, work and raise a family. From the exceptional primary and higher education available here, to the ways we are transforming public services, including housing and healthcare, Bahrain continues to represent a prime destination for expats to seamlessly integrate into our society and thrive.”

Bahrain is the only Mena nation in the 2018 HSBC survey rankings to have improved its position among the top 10 destinations considered.

Other key indices, such as the 2018 InterNations Expat Survey, also rank Bahrain highly as a location for expats to settle and flourish. For the second year, Bahrain also achieved the number one global ranking in the InterNations survey, demonstrating high performance on factors such as ‘ease of settling in,’ ‘feeling at home’ and ‘digital life’. These factors indicate that Bahrain remains an open society in transition to capitalise on a transformative ecosystem in which the companies of the future can excel and grow. - TradeArabia News Service