The Expat City Ranking for 2024 by InterNations is out and Kuwait is back to being the least friendly for expats. According to InterNations, Kuwait has constantly placed in the bottom 10 since the list started all the way back in 2014:
As in 2023, Kuwait ranks last (53rd out of 53 countries) in the Ease of Settling In Index. In fact, it has consistently placed in the bottom 10 since the first year of the survey in 2014.
Only about a quarter of expats in Kuwait (26%) feel welcome there (vs. 63% globally). Rather, around half don’t feel at home in the country (49% vs. 23% globally) and say it’s difficult to get used to the local culture (47% vs. 21% globally). Expats rank Kuwait dead last when it comes to Local Friendliness (53rd), and less than a quarter (22%) are happy with their social life there (vs. 52% globally).
And although 57% of respondents in Kuwait say they’ve already been there for five years or more (vs. 48% globally), the majority (53%) is still only friends with fellow expats (vs. 37% globally). This is possibly because making local friends is difficult: over three in five expats (61%) agree, 20 percentage points more than the global average of 41%.
Costa Rica on the other hand was ranked the friendliest place for expats in 2024. For the full list and more details, click here.
25 replies on “Kuwait Ranked Least Friendly for Expats in 2024”
numero uno 🏆
Water is wet. Kuwait hates expats. Kuwait hate locals now. If you hate locals and expats living in the country, how can you possibly have tourists one day.
consistency is key
Bottom 10 – not bad kuwait being among the scandanavian countries that everyone is roaring about how happy and advanced these countries are. *being sarcastic
Hungary
Denmark
Switzerland
Czechia
Sweden
Austria
Finland
Germany
Norway
Kuwait
For once, As Funny guy, I cannot seem to see the humor in this. We need to wake up, or we’ll be asleep forever (aka dead, get it?)
And still no one will do anything to make things better! 😞
It’s all about the citizens’ mentality, it’ll only change once the majority realizes what’s happening
When you look at the “top countries” sorry to say but its all crappy countries. I personally don’t want Kuwait to be a tourist or foreigner destination- part of the charm is how somewhat secluded we are.
When you look at countries with a lot of expats they’re generally problematic places that sacrifice their local culture and traditions to capitalize on foreigners. I call it commercialized colonialism- look at Dubai for example its one of the most soulless places on the planet.
So yeah, lets keep it this way we should be proud of being in the bottom with countries like Switzerland, Sweden, Germany & Norway.
Local traditions and culture? Could you please elaborate for me? Is it BurgAr King or mcdonalds? Or perhaps its marina mall and shark market unesco sites of prehistoric malls?
What is it that you are so afraid to lose?
It’s hilarious how defensive people get when you suggest that not every country needs to sell its soul for the sake of foreigners. Let’s break down the nonsense one by one:
Kristofer:
Ah, the classic “Kuwait has no culture” argument from someone whose entire worldview seems to be shaped by food courts and shopping malls. Maybe if you took two seconds to step outside of expat bubbles, you’d realize Kuwait has a rich cultural and historical identity rooted in its Bedouin and maritime past. The fact that it hasn’t turned itself into a gaudy, consumerist wasteland like Dubai is the point. Not every place needs to be a Disneyland for outsiders who don’t even bother to understand the country they live in.
Annony-mouse:
So let me get this straight—your entire argument boils down to:
1. Expats don’t like it here, so we should change everything for them.
2. The economy is stagnant, so let’s just bring in more outsiders instead of fixing internal inefficiencies.
3. The rest of the GCC is “flying forward” (translation: selling itself to the highest bidder).
4. Kuwait would collapse without expats, so let’s just cater to them endlessly.
This is the exact kind of colonized, second-class mindset that allows places like the UAE to become what they are today—a fake, hollow, money-laundering hub for criminal elites, where even the locals get pushed aside to make way for oligarchs and washed-up celebrities. The only thing “flying forward” in the UAE is dirty money and people desperate to escape the moral and financial black hole they created.
Kuwait isn’t meant to be some desperate “please love us” tourist trap or expat paradise. It has its own pace, its own structure, and doesn’t need to prostitute itself for economic validation. If people don’t like it, they can leave—because clearly, they never intended to integrate or respect the culture in the first place.
Sam:
Oh yes, Dubai has done a wonderful job of “infusing cultures” by completely erasing its own. There is no Emirati identity left in that place—it’s a tax-free zone for political outcasts, criminals laundering money, and socialites chasing an artificial lifestyle. You think that is cultural sharing? You think a local Emirati should be happy that his family’s 100-year-old home is now overshadowed by a Russian billionaire’s penthouse, bought with stolen funds?
And please, don’t lecture Kuwaitis about global trade and history as if that’s an excuse to turn the country into a soulless, transitory pit stop. The Kuwait of the past thrived because it had an identity strong enough to interact with the world without losing itself in the process. That’s the difference between organic cultural exchange and the corporate dystopia Dubai has become.
At the end of the day, not every country needs to be a globalized mess to be “successful.” Kuwait doesn’t exist to entertain foreigners—it exists for its people. And the moment you start prioritizing outsiders over locals, you get what the UAE has today: a place where no one belongs, not even the ones who built it.
Dear Yuh,
I grew up in Kuwait in the 80s and I left in 07. I really love the place and I wish one day I will return, maybe even in an urn.
I have a lot of good memories and I’d love to revisit the sites that I loved. Museum with DC-3, entertainment city, ice skating rink, air force museum, Shaab park and list goes on and on.
I still recall a scent of a lime tree in an old Mesillah beach hotel. It was like a little paradise for a wet labrador azz smelling kid
In my country a big chunk of culture is to preserve old and obsolete stuff and not replace it with shopping malls and cofee shops.
seriously, u think the fact that so many expats hate it here and only stay reluctantly is charming? the fact that the economy is so stagnant? the fact that the rest of the gcc is flying forward while kuwait is regressing? the fact that even after all these years of takweet, the country would fall apart in a week without expats? so why not make them feel happier, make them spend more here, have more loyalty to the country, have lower turnover of people etc etc etc
If only local culture and traditions in Kuwait…. It is funny you bring up Dubai when the Emiratis have infused and understood other cultures and there is a true sharing of cultures where they have taken the stride to learn other languages and become truly global citizens of this world.
You know something, if a country has a very unique culture and tradition, they end up attracting the world. That is what used to happen when Kuwait used to go to India to do trade and business. Imagine if they stayed secluded, or even the pearl diving markets back in the days. I really do hope that one day traditions do get shared but share the good ones please…
Not surprised. It will remain at the bottom forever. Everything that is being done internally will remain. Pre US invasion into Iraq, Kuwait was the most free & advanced GCC country.
Again ?
Tell us something new.
Not surprised at all, Kuwait is not a friendly country to anyone anymore unfortunately.
Why Kuwait?? Why??? Me know English.. me THIS??!!!
Kuwait can survive without Kuwaitis, but I doubt it will survive without expats. I think it wouldn’t even exist by now if no expat told them black sticky gunk pouring from sand can be traded for gold.
Kristofer is a racist european you can tell- he seems bitter and insecure. Probably because most Kuwaitis have vacation homes in European cities and towns Kristofer’s wet labrador smelling azz couldn’t dream of affording- yet you don’t see a single one of those Kuwaitis wanting to live in those “developed” culture-less wastelands. Why are you even here? You must be desperate and depressed if you’re this bitter.
Yet thousands of expats continue to flock to it every year and millions choose to live in it and raise their families and make a comfortable living.
hmmm thousands ? I guess you forgot to mention that mainly it is those from third world countries who are struggling to make a living and raise their families, who have no other choice. you ask the same to someone who lives in a developed country and they wouldnt even bother coming to Kuwait – infact they would rather choose to visit Dubai or Oman
Yeah no, this is short lived, and look at the caliber of people you’re attracting. These are not at all the creme de la creme of the world who will infuse your economy with skills or knowledge, it is simply people with bare minimum motor skills to deliver your yelo pizza from khaldiya to sharq.
Ask any of the 2 leading companies in Kuwait if they have HR issues because no skilled, qualified and competent manager wants to move to Kuwait. It is becoming so difficult to run and operate a small business here. Its actually time to leave.
@Kuwait- Bang on the money, mate!
Kuwait bashing has become fashionable and has turned into a sport of sorts. Agreed, life in Kuwait is not without wrinkles but life is not exactly all hunky dory and a bed of roses in Manama, Doha or the Emirates either. (Oman- now she is bit of an outlier for this region: she is something special and unique in terms of quality of life).
That having said- on any given day Kuwait still continues to be the most sought after expat destination among Arab / Arab American and Indian expats given the relatively low cost of living here and the vastly superior tax free savings potential compared to the Emirates which cannot be easily shaken off.
Trouble with most of these surveys / polls is they are devised by Western agencies with an eye on the minority Western expat alone which results in this kind of a skew. Arguably, this might still not explain why the Scandinavian countries fare so poorly so that is up for discussion- I grant you that. You throw access to alcohol as a variable into the mix, and suddenly you find Kuwait faring badly in the league table of expat friendliness.
sorry, but what you just said is the dictionary definition of Stockholm Syndrome
It’s a questionnaire for expats in Kuwait, they don’t like the country that’s why they answer negatively.