Arab Youth Survey ranks UAE as most desirable country to live in for 11th year
Arab youth have named the UAE the country they would most like to live in for the 11th consecutive year.
Nearly two-thirds of the 3,400 young Arabs polled across the Middle East and North Africa in the 14th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey listed the UAE (57 per cent) as the most desirable place to live in, significantly outranking the United States, Canada, France, and Germany.
The UAE was the number one choice of Levant youth (57 per cent), followed by Canada (31 per cent) — and the preferred country to live in of 63 per cent of GCC nationals, followed by the US (19 per cent).
For the 11th year running, the UAE is also the country most young Arabs want their own to be like. The model nation for 37 per cent of Arab youth overall, the country ranked ahead of the US (22 per cent), Canada (18 per cent), Germany (14 per cent), France (11 per cent) and Turkey (11 per cent).
The popularity of the UAE as an ideal place to live reached its highest point since the Arab Youth Survey began asking the question in 2012. That year, 33 per cent of respondents said the Emirates was the country they preferred to live in, followed by France and the US.
The appeal of the UAE is spread across the Mena region, with 51 per cent of North African youth saying it was their preferred country, followed by the US (24 per cent).
The UAE was the number one choice of Levant youth (57 per cent), followed by Canada (31 per cent) — and the preferred country to live in of 63 per cent of GCC nationals, followed by the US (19 per cent).
Growing UAE economy, a significant draw for Arab youth
The top five attractions of the UAE are its growing economy (27 per cent), its safe and secure environment (26 per cent), and its generous salary packages. Other attractions are the wide range of work opportunities it provides (cited by 22 per cent of interviewees); and the country’s effective leadership (17 per cent).
The UAE’s respect for the region’s cultural traditions, the quality of its education system, the ease of starting a business, and low taxes were other attractions.
Sunil John, president for Mena at BCW and founder of ASDA’A BCW, said: “As the region’s model nation for the 11th straight year, the UAE continues to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for young Arab men and women across the Middle East and North Africa.”
“The enduring popularity of the UAE is a testament to the visionary leadership of the UAE, which staged one of the most successful World Expos in the event’s history – despite the global disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – and is now preparing to host the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in November 2023.”
John stated, “What is perhaps most telling is that the UAE scores highly on all the issues that Arab youth said were most important to them in our research, such as job opportunities, education quality and the preservation of the region’s cultural traditions and values.”
Youth welcome the nation’s new visa reforms
According to the survey, most Emirati youths have welcomed the UAE’s new directives for sustainable growth.
More than nine in 10 (94 per cent) say they approve of the recent introduction of more extended residence visas for expatriates and new rules to obtain them more easily.
Eighty-four per cent support the decision to allow expatriates to own onshore companies fully; 83 per cent approve of the soon-to-be-introduced corporation tax, and nearly nine in 10 (87 per cent) accept adopting a Monday-to-Friday working week.
Moreover, more than half (54 per cent) say they accept the right of unmarried couples to live together.
