In Pictures: From Dubai to Bengaluru, these six cities emerge as hotspots for expats

Covid lockdowns and soaring cost of living are factors driving today’s expats to choose a new global city for their residency. But young professionals looking for adventure and careers abroad are facing a dilemma. Which will be the cosmopolitan hotspots that can lure a vibrant international community with high-paid jobs and affordable luxury lifestyles?

While countries from Curacao to Cape Verde have rolled out ‘digital nomad’ visas for tech-enabled wanderers, building and retaining a large cosmopolitan talent base takes more than a beach and a wi-fi connection. In a world reshaped by infection and inflation, a clutch of cities is challenging the old order, luring companies and start-ups to burnish their credentials as a ‘global city’.

Dubai | Dubai has been challenging Hong Kong and Singapore for expat traffic for more than a decade now and the combination of the pandemic and war in Europe has made the Emirate even more popular. With the jagged spire of the Burj Khalifa soaring over a collection of futuristic architecture, Dubai has invested billions in creating a city of the future.

“Dubai handled the pandemic very well and there was almost no lockdown,” said Bernd Hanke, partner of a London-based fund, moved here during the pandemic to escape rounds of lockdowns and Covid measures in Stuttgart. Now he is thinking about whether to make the move more permanent and buy property in Dubai. “I would quite like to be in Dubai even for the longer run,” he said. “I have to make up my mind on that.”

Kuala Lumpur | Long overshadowed by Singapore as a destination for expat workers, the Malaysian capital is becoming increasingly attractive to global businesses because of its large English speaking workforce, easy flight connections around the region, and relative affordability. In 2021, the city ranked first in a worldwide survey of some 12,000 expats by InterNations, scoring top for housing.

Lisbon | Lisbon has reinvented itself as a hipster destination, hosting events such as the annual Web Summit and offering a mix of culture, nightlife and warm weather within easy reach of some of Europe’s most spectacular beaches. Described last year by expat website Dispatches as “arguably the most popular expat destination in Europe at the moment”. Lisbon is enjoying a boom that has seen property prices steadily rise as an influx of wealthy immigrants buy houses in the capital or along the nation’s fabled Algarve coast.

Bengaluru | Bengaluru has become one of the world’s fastest-growing tech hubs, home to thousands of startups and software firms, fueled with money from global technology companies and blue-chip foreign investors such as Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Venture capital is flowing into the southern Indian city faster than to London or San Francisco by one estimate, surging to $7.2 billion in 2020 from $1.3 billion in 2016. With a growing expat community has come international schools, as well as bars and bistros that serve literally everything.

Mexico City | An urban sprawl of nearly 22 million people, Mexico City may seem an unlikely candidate for an expat haven, but the oldest capital in the Americas has been rapidly gaining attention as a center of entrepreneurs and startups in Latin America.

Mexico topped the global ranking in InterNations’ 2022 Expat Insider ranking of the best countries to live in and its high-altitude capital is home to foreigners from all over the world. The capital is also home to one of the most vibrant restaurant scenes in the Americas.

Rio de Janeiro | Steeped in glamour for much of the 20th century, the former capital of the Portuguese empire boasts an iconic backdrop of tree-covered mountains surrounding one of the world’s most spectacular natural harbors. While the city suffered a decline in the 1990s, overshadowed by financial hub Sao Paulo, the laid-back vibe and world-famous beaches of Rio continue to hold an allure for foreigners moving to South America’s largest economy.