Arab cities rank among top 10 friendliest in the world for expats

Published: 30 April 2025

Ras Al-Khaimah in 5th place, Oman’s capital Muscat ranks 10th and Doha 15th

NT Bureau
Doha

The Emirati city of Ras Al-Khaimah and Oman’s capital Muscat have been ranked among the top 10 friendliest destinations in the world for expats, Arab News reports.

The Ease of Settling In Index 2024 by Inter Nations, which describes itself as “the largest global expat network” with 5.6 million members, includes 53 cities and comprises three subcategories: culture and welcome, local friendliness and finding friends.

Ras Al-Khaimah ranked fifth overall while Muscat ranked 10th, closely followed by the Emirati city of Dubai (11th), the Saudi capital Riyadh (12th), the UAE capital Abu Dhabi (14th) and Qatar’s capital Doha (15th).

Ras Al-Khaimah and Muscat “perform well across the index but stand out especially for how easy expats find it to get used to the local culture … as well as for the general friendliness of the population,” according to the index.

InterNations described Riyadh as one of “the biggest winners in 2024,” jumping 10 places from the 2023 rankings and improving “across all factors of the index.”

Riyadh’s biggest gains were in the culture and welcome subcategory, rising from 30th in 2023 to 14th last year.