Kenya's capital city Nairobi has been ranked 12th out of 57 cities sampled globally in the Expat City Ranking 2021.
This sees the city rise by 80 percent from its previous 62nd position in 2020.
Nairobi came 12th to beat previously top-rated cities including South Africa's Cape Town (41), Johannesburg (55), and capital city of Egypt, Cairo which was ranked at 52nd position.
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The placing was accredited to the easy settlement which was ranked 4th where participants noted that residents are generally friendly which makes it easy to make friends.
74 per cent of residents in Nairobi city are happy with their social life unlike 57 per cent in other cities globally.
In terms of finance and housing, 82% of residents describes the process to be easy and smooth compared to 60 per cent globally adding that the housing is affordable.
The local cost of living was placed 23rd globally as most residents are satisfied with their financial situation
"And while nearly one in five expats globally (19%) are dissatisfied with their financial situation, this is only the case for 9% of expats in Nairobi. Interestingly, 42% still rate the local cost of living negatively (vs. 34% globally), ranking the city 23rd in the Local Cost of Living Index," part of the report reads.
Nairobi was however ranked in the bottom 10 to hold 50th position in the Quality of Urban Living Index.
This was attributed to low availability (48th) and low quality of medical care (50th).
Further, 55% of residents are unimpressed with the public transport system with some highligting the “poor maintenance of local roads”
"Performance in the Urban Work Life Index (34th) is an interesting mix: the city ranks 49th worldwide for the state of the local economy (30% unhappy vs. 19% globally) but 9th for overall job satisfaction (73% happy vs. 68% globally)," the report read in parts.
The global report carried out a survey amongst 12,420 respondents in 57 cities.
