Top 10 most desirable cities for expats looking to relocate in 2024

In an increasingly globalized world, living and working overseas is becoming less of a daunting dream — and more attainable for many.

“Globally, one in four professionals are actively seeking jobs abroad,” according to the 2024 Decoding Global Talent Report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in collaboration with The Network and The Stepstone Group.

Despite recent widespread economic and geopolitical concerns, there is a growing share of people actively looking for jobs abroad, the report found.

Those who are actively mobile increased to 23% in 2023 — from 21% in 2020, showed the global study, which was based on more than 150,000 survey respondents across 188 countries.

“Up to 800 million professionals could be actively looking for jobs abroad,” said the report published on April 24.

Three of the most common reasons for relocating overseas among respondents include economic opportunities, career advancement and the potential for a better quality of life, according to the same report.

Additionally, the study found that “an overwhelming 92% of the leaders of global employers say that attracting and retaining talent is among their top three priorities.”

“Employing foreign workers doesn’t just fill capacity gaps: companies with greater global diversity are more innovative and successful. They generate higher profits and are 75% more likely to be world-class innovators,” according to a separate report by BCG in 2022.

1. London (9%)
2. Amsterdam (8%)
3. Dubai (7%)
4. Abu Dhabi (7%)
5. New York (6%)
6. Berlin (5%)
7. Singapore (5%)
8. Barcelona (5%)
9. Tokyo (5%)
10. Sydney (4%)

London has maintained its top position since 2014, according to the 2024 Decoding Global Talent report, the latest in a series that started 10 years ago.

The survey showed that 9% of respondents would be willing to move to London.

The top factors driving the city’s dominance include: English being the primary language, a strong global network where much of the talent in the city are from other countries, abundant financial opportunities, welcoming and multicultural brand, and access to both Europe and the U.S., according to the report.

Singapore was the top destination in Asia, and ranked 7th. The island-nation has seen the biggest influx of talent from nearby locations such as Malaysia (30%), Thailand (22%), Indonesia (19%), Philippines (14%) and Hong Kong (13%).

Of those willing to relocate to Singapore, 74% said the country’s quality of job opportunities attracted them to the island-nation.

The survey found that 57% of respondents also liked Singapore’s quality of life as well as income, tax and cost of living. More than half, or 55%, said safety, stability and security were also a consideration leading them to choose Singapore as their top destination for work.

This year, nine cities in the Asia-Pacific region landed in the top 30:

• Singapore (7th)
• Tokyo (9th)
• Sydney (10th)
• Melbourne (14th)
• Auckland (16th)
• Bangkok (17th)
• Beijing (25th)
• Kuala Lumpur (26th)
• Osaka (30th)

“The notion that origin countries can benefit from the departure of talent might seem counterintuitive, since, from one point of view, they are experiencing ‘brain drain,'” the report pointed out.

However, it cited a separate report by the Center for Global Development which found there was “brain gain” related to the fact that “departures can promote the dissemination of knowledge and technologies in origin countries and can help those countries connect more firmly to the aggregate global brain.”

In today’s world, there is much to gain from hiring global talent, both for the employer and the employee.

“Other countries can be a great source of talent — employers and nations that tap into such positive energy from the millions of workers with mobile aspirations will gain a major competitive advantage,” according to the 2024 Decoding Global Talent Report.

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