London most sought after destination for expats in Europe despite cost of living crisis

MoneyTransfers.com has analyzed worldwide search data to reveal that London is still the most sought after destination for expatriates in Europe, even in the face of rising prices amid the cost of living crisis.

Searches for ‘moving to London’ far outstrip any other city in Europe, reaching an average search volume of over 5,000 a month - more than double the runner-up in Manchester. Edinburgh makes up the top three, rounding off a surprising result for the UK that sees it claim all three top spots in the list.

Madrid comes next on the list, with around 1,500 searches a month, followed by Vienna, Berlin, and Valencia, while Lisbon, Paris, and Basel make up the top ten.

London most searched for, but far from the best for expats

While London might be one of the most searched for cities for prospective movers, it doesn’t actually rank that well in different aspects of expat living. According to reports analyzing life in different cities for expats, London ranks 35 in the world for quality of life, 17th for working abroad, 49th for personal finance, and 27th for expat essentials.

Its ranking for working abroad is its best out of all, while its worst ranking is for personal finance, which comes as no surprise. London has long been the home of fantastic career opportunities, but inflation has only served to tighten the city’s many wallets. In fact, according to respondents in the above study, 70% of people consider the cost of living in London as too high - twice the global average of 35%.

80% say London housing is unaffordable compared to 43% around the whole world, while 30% of people are unhappy with their social life compared to just over a quarter of expats worldwide. In more unpleasant reading for the UK capital, it also ranks in the bottom ten for availability (45th) and quality (44th) of healthcare.

London might be an economic powerhouse, but that doesn’t make it a great place to live by any means,” said Jonathan Merry, MoneyTransfers.com founder. “Quite the opposite, according to expats - but many of the issues they raise are all too familiar with locals. The capital city is glamorous, fun and full of things to do, so long as you’re ready to spend, but if you’re looking for a more affordable and enjoyable experience the UK has plenty more to offer.

Jonathan Merry, MoneyTransfers.com founder

Manchester the best city for expats in the UK

MoneyTransfers.com has assessed data relating to the cost of living in different UK cities to find that London is not even in the top ten best UK cities for expats. That crown goes to Manchester, the second-most searched city in Europe and the best in the UK for expats based on things like the monthly cost of living, salary, internet speed, and things to do among other factors.

Edinburgh comes 6th on the list, behind Portsmouth, Southampton, Leicester and York, but ahead of Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham and Aberdeen. London, however, comes 20th in the list, below Liverpool (19th), Glasgow (18th), and Belfast (17th).

Interestingly, both London and Manchester rank joint third-worst for city safety, but while London ranks highest in number of things to do (no surprises), it’s surprisingly poor for internet speed with the worst ranking of all cities in the UK.

Valencia the best city overall, Frankfurt Am Main the worst

Despite only being the 7th most searched city in Europe, Valencia ranks as the best city for expats overall, beating out Dubai in second, Mexico City in third, Lisbon in fourth and Madrid in fifth. They’re also top of the list for quality of life, as 85% of expats in the city say they are happy with public transport, and 92% of expats say they feel safe.

However, the Spanish city ranks poorly for career prospects, coming last in the list, with its overall ranking for working abroad in the bottom ten overall (41st). Frankfurt Am Main comes bottom of the list for European cities, although the world’s worst destination for expats is Johannesburg in South Africa.