Every year, the InterNations’ Expat Insider surveys thousands of expats all over the world, who score their new home countries across several categories. This year, Taiwan is expats’ favorite country, while Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, is the top city. And how did our fair alpine home do? Overall, Austria ranks 23rd out of 59 countries, and Vienna 14th out of 57 expat cities – in other words, the overall expat experience here is decidedly average. How did this come to be? While Austria and Vienna both scored high in the “Quality of Life” and “Working Abroad” indices, they tanked when it came to “ease of settling in” – as it turns out, most expats think Austrians are downright unfriendly.
Here, we put together some stats from this year’s Expat Insider 2021 survey.
Vienna: Great environment, grumpy people
Overall, Vienna is a pretty great city for expats to live in – but many find the locals grumpy. Perhaps the grumpiest…in the world?
Austria: Nice place, but making friends is hard
Expats find Austria truly excellent when it comes to quality of life, especially travel and transportation. But settling in, they say, is hard – and find the Österreicher:innen pretty darn unfriendly.
Over at Metropole, we know that settling in can be hard. Chin up, expats – let it be sausage to you, as they say, if your neighbors are unfriendly. And remember, if you love Vienna, it just might love you back.
To read the full InterNations Expat Insider 2021 report about cities, go here. For countries, go here.
