Expat Cities With The Longest Vacations

Riyadh is the expat vacation day capital of the world, according to a new survey.

Expats working in the Saudi Arabian city can expect at least 37 days off a year – for days more than Moscow, Russia, the second placed city.

Swiss bank UBS looked at vacation days as part of wider research into pay and lifestyle expats can expect in 77 major global cities.

Gulf States had three other cities in the top 10, giving the region top rating for work and play.

At the other end of the table, Lagos, Nigeria sits in bottom place with just six vacation days a year.

Just six days off in Lagos

US and Chinese cities fared badly, taking two of the bottom places each.

The desert city of Riyadh is the largest in Saudi Arabia, with a population approaching 6 million – with more than 2 million expats.

The temperature can by stifling – with thermometer readings often hitting 45 degrees centigrade or more.

Al Masmak is the main tourist attraction – a fort of clay bricks.

Visiting one of the city’s souks is another diversion for expats and tourists.

Top 10 cities with the most vacation days

RankCityCountryVacation Days
1RiyadhSaudi Arabia37.0
2MoscowRussia33.3
3St PetersburgRussia32.3
4BarcelonaSpain32.0
5DohaQatar32.0
6ManamaBahrain32.0
7AmsterdamThe Netherlands31.2
8ParisFrance30.0
9Rio de JaneiroBrazil30.0
10DubaiUnited Arab Emirates30.0

Bottom 10 cities with fewest vacation days

RankCityCountryVacation Days
68BangkokThailand12.3
69MiamiUSA12.1
70JakartaIndonesia12.0
71ShanghaiChina11.7
72TaipeiTaiwan11.2
73MumbaiIndia10.4
74Los AngelesUSA10.1
75BeijingChina9.7
76HanoiVietnam8.0
77LagosNigeria6.1

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