‘Worst country for expats’ where newcomers cite poor quality of life and weather as major deterrents

With so much focus on finding the best places to set up a new life, it’s also important to know which destinations to avoid.

Fortunately, relocation expert Kristin has used her years of experience travelling around the world to create comprehensive content on this topic.

In her latest clip, the content creator touched on the places to bypass when searching for a new home.

The list was based on a survey of 12,500 expats living abroad who were asked about the countries they don’t like living in.

“The worst country for expats according to expats is located in the Middle East,” Kristin said, referring to Kuwait.

“I have met a lot of people who were living and working there and they were pretty frank with me that the only reason they were there was for their job.

“They were kind of in […] golden handcuffs, where they were getting compensated so highly that they couldn’t leave, even though they didn’t love their lives there.

“I found this pretty sad, but it seems that the survey results here really confirm that. Kuwait was voted last out of 53 countries for seven years in a row on this expat insider index.”

The biggest complaints from expats related to poor quality of life, lack of affordable transportation, the hot weather, and lack of natural environment.

“They also rate healthcare very low, in 51st place, and one Austrian expat said that in the summer, the heat can go above 50C,” added Kristin.

Kuwait also ranks last when it comes to ease of settling in and ability to make friends, according to Kristin.

“People say it’s really difficult to form a social circle there and to have any kind of personal support, and they said that people aren’t very friendly towards foreign residents,” she said.

One thing expats rate very highly is the economy, according to Kristin, acknowledging that this benefit alone is unlikely to convince someone to move there.

According to Greenback Expat Tax Services, the income tax rate Kuwait charges residents is zero, explaining why people choose to make a living there.

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With its attractive job prospects, the country has attracted around 8,000 British nationals who live there and a further 10,000 who visit each year.

Experts at InterNations say the country’s strong oil industry and financial sector are what make it so attractive to expats.

“They do not charge social security taxes to [expats] working in Kuwait, nor do they charge capital gains taxes,” add experts at Greenback Expat Tax Services.

“You will not owe any taxes to the Kuwaiti government while working there.”