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Sydney has ranked as the 10th most desirable city for expats looking to relocate in 2024

A new report has identified the most desirable cities for professionals looking for work overseas, and Sydney ranked as number 10

Winnie Stubbs
Written by
Winnie Stubbs
Lifestyle Writer
ferry on Sydney Harbour
Photograph: Supplied | Destination NSW | |
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If it feels as though everyone you know is quitting their job and moving to London, you’re probably not wrong. According to a recent report by global management consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group, one in four professionals are actively seeking work overseas, and London is the most desirable city for professionals to relocate. And though that means we’re seeing a lot of Sydneysiders up sticks and move to London town, the migration of workers goes both ways. According to the report, there are an estimated 800 million professionals seeking work overseas right now, and Sydney ranked as the tenth most popular city for them to move to.

Sky-high rental prices aside, we think Sydney is a pretty special place to call home. With our beautiful beaches and expansive national parks, getting your nature fix in Sydney is never too difficult, and keeping well-fed is easy (in fact, Sydney recently ranked as one of the best cities in the world for food). Though “the potential for a better quality of life” was listed among the top three reasons for relocating overseas, it’s the city’s (relative) economic stability that scored us a spot in the list of the most desirable destination cities for professionals. The global study surveyed more than 150,000 people from 188 countries, and found that pursuing “economic opportunities” was the main motivating factor for professionals choosing their next overseas workplace.

In this year’s report, four per cent of respondents (6,000 people out of 150,000) said they’d be willing to relocate to the Harbour City. Our remote location gave us a disadvantage compared to more centrally-located cities such as London, which many people choose based on its strong global network and easy access to the US and Europe.    

Although Sydney was the only Aussie country to make the top ten list, despite being an island removed from much of the world, the lucky country came out as the most desirable destination overall. Australia came out as the number one country for global talent, after steadily rising through the ranks of BCG’s Decoding Global Talent report since it first launched in 2014. According to the report, “Australia became more attractive to respondents from Asian countries, and it rose in popularity among respondents from North America, Africa, and several European countries, including the UK and Ireland. Amid an economic boom as the world emerged from the worst stages of the pandemic, Australia has been attractive to talent from abroad, offering job opportunities, visas, and great quality of life.”

You can read the full report over here.

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