Muscat – The Expat Insider 2023 Report credits Oman as one of the biggest winners of ‘The Top Places for Working Abroad’ index. “It gains 16 places, ranking 23rd in 2023 compared to 39th in 2022. The country has made the biggest strides in the Career Prospects (from 40th to 19th in 2023) and Salary & Job Security (41st to 26th) Subcategories.

“Oman offers affordable housing, coming in 3rd place. Oman follows the neighboring UAE closely not only in the overall ranking (12th), but also in the Expat Essentials Index. Again, the results tell a very similar story. Expats in Oman do not struggle to get by without speaking Arabic (4th), though close to half (47%) also find the local language easy to learn (vs. 40% globally). Housing is readily available (3rd) and even comparatively cheap (6th). In fact, over three in five (61%) give the affordability of housing in Oman a favorable rating, compared to just 38% of expats worldwide.

“It is easy to open a local bank account according to 72% of respondents (vs. 62% globally), and the visa process is not much of an issue, either (64% happy vs. 57%). All in all, Oman places 8th in the Admin Topics Subcategory,” the Report stated.

The ‘Where to move for better quality of life’ index notes that Oman has seen gains across most factors, rising 14 places in the ranking (24th). “Changes include, for example, a more favorable view of government support for policies to protect the environment (from 14th to 2nd). But there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the affordability and availability of public transportation (47th for each),” said the Report.

For the Expat Insider 2023 edition, more than 12,000 expats worldwide, representing 171 nationalities, living in 172 countries or territories, shared their opinions on everyday life abroad. They rated up to 56 aspects of expat life, such as the local cost of living, availability of housing, career prospects, access to high-speed internet at home, social life, and the quality of medical care.