Have your say: Is Prague one of the world’s best cities for expats?

There’s no question that Prague enjoys a great international reputation. The Czech capital frequently appears in “top ten” lists of the world’s best and most beautiful cities, making it a magnet for tourists as well as an increasing number of expat livers.

Prague has now made another global top ten in Internations' Expats Insider survey, with Prague named the seventh best city in the world for expat life. Prague’s success in a range of evaluation categories is even more remarkable given that the Spanish city of Malaga was the only European metropolis to rank higher.

The survey found Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur to be the world’s best city for expats, scoring particularly highly in the Finance and Housing category. Malaga, Europe’s top-ranked city, came in second place overall, impressing with its great weather and extensive leisure options. Third place went to Dubai, where expats find it easy to get settled, thanks in large part to the city’s status as a multi-lingual international hub.

Prague made it into the global top five in two of the survey’s evaluation criteria: the Urban Work Life Index (4th), covering employment opportunities, work-life balance and standard working hours; and the Quality of Urban Living Index (5th), evaluating leisure options, public transport in the city, and healthcare availability and affordability.

Prague also performed well in the Local Cost of Living Index (11th), with 61% of people rating the affordability of life in the Czech capital positively. It scored less well in the two other categories evaluated, though: 14th in the Finance and Housing Index, with 43% of expats finding housing difficult to afford (higher than the global average); and a lowly 38th in the Getting Settled Index.

Indeed, the heaviest criticism levelled at Prague was a general unfriendliness on the part of local inhabitants: 32% of expats cited this problem, compared to a global average of 16%. Still, the proportion of expats in Prague who are happy with their social life and feel at home in the city is higher than the global average.

The survey clearly frames Prague as one of the world’s most desirable expat cities. And it should perhaps be noted that the only significantly negative attribute, a perceived hostility on the part of locals, may be mitigated by the stumbling block of the Czech language, widely regarded as one of Europe’s most difficult to learn. In general, the Czech capital far outstrips other major European destinations such as Paris, Milan and Rome, which all finished in the global bottom ten.