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The 5 Fastest Growing Cities in Europe and Odd…

The Fastest Growing Cities in Europe Have Some Odd Things in Common

What are the common things between cities like Gothenburg in Sweden and Bordeaux in France? Certainly not the weather, or the average wine consumption (the French drink 4 times more of it than the Swedes). Both are, however, among the fastest growing cities in Europe.

There are other remarkable things that put together the Mediterranean French municipality, the 2nd largest city in Sweden, and three other European mid-sized urban areas.

One of them is that all of them are experiencing explosive demographic growth. It doesn’t stop with that: the population increase will likely get even faster during the next few decades.

The Population of European Cities Will Decrease Drastically, But…

…Not Everywhere

According to Eurostat, cities like Athens in Greece or Katowice in Poland may lose up to 40% of their inhabitants, but the fastest growing cities will grow in equal proportion, or even more.

The situation is so drastic that we wrote an entire article about countries with declining populations.

Other capital cities like Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, or Berlin will keep their size.

On the other hand…

The incredible growth of the 5 cities we will mention in the next paragraphs is even more impressive when we consider that the European population is heading to a historical shrinkage.

For instance, by 2100, it is expected that Italy’s population will drop to less than 37 million.

This is because Europeans are getting older, and the birth rates are not even close to enough to replace the older generations.

Chart of the Population pyramid of the European Union countries. — Population Pyramid of Eu-27 countries in 2019 and the projection for 2100. Source.

Who Calculated the Numbers For the Fastest-Growing Cities in Europe?

The numbers in this article are from Eurostat, using the baseline projections from December 2022.

So we are using very recent data.

Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union (EU). Its objective is to provide policymakers, researchers, and the public with high-quality statistical information. Its main job is to collect, organize, and publish statistics about the EU and its member countries. These statistics cover various topics, such as economics, population, the environment, and social issues.

Eurostat’s reputation for producing high-quality and reliable statistical information has made it a trusted source of data for policymakers, researchers, businesses, and the public, both inside and outside the EU.

However…

One thing must be said (and this is a personal opinion):

Socio-economic forecasts for the far future should be seen with a pinch of salt. Often, they are bollocks. I honestly would not take very seriously a projection for 2100.

But it is still interesting to see why these cities have such high numbers forecasted. While the reality in 2100 may deviate drastically from the numbers below, it is clear that there is a trend of explosive demographic growth in each of these cities.

With no further ado, let’s jump to the 5 fastest growing cities in Europe in terms of population size, and what are the weird similarities between them.

The 5 Fastest Growing Cities in Europe

The numbers below refer to the forecast from Eurostat published in December of 2022 on the populational change of European cities in the XXI century.

5th — Bordeaux, France

Total increase forecasted in the number of residents: 523,000

Forecasted population growth rate: 31%

Bordeaux is also one of the best places to retire in Europe.

Bordeaux, France, the 5th fastest growing city in Europe

4th — Toulouse, France

Total increase forecasted in the number of residents: 472,000

Forecasted population growth rate: 33%

Curiosity: despite (or maybe, because of) the high growth, Toulouse has one of the lowest costs per square meter among major cities in France.

Toulouse, France, the 4th fastest growing city in Europe

3rd —Gothenburg, Sweden

Total increase forecasted in the number of residents: 715,000

Forecasted population growth rate: 41%

Gothenburg, Sweden, the 3rd fastest growing city in Europe — Gothenburg, Sweden.

2nd — Stockholm, Sweden

Total increase forecasted in the number of residents: 1,032,000

Forecasted population growth rate: 43%

Stockholm, the Swedish capital city — Stockholm, the Swedish capital.

1st — Malmo, Sweden

Total increase forecasted in the number of residents: 620,000

Forecasted population growth rate: 44%

Curiously, Malmo also figured in two other very polemic rankings, like the one about the most violent city in Sweden, or the list of the most dangerous cities in Europe.

Malmo, the fastest growing city in Europe — Malmo, the fastest-growing city in Europe

Why These Cities Are the Fastest Growing in Europe?

Here are a few reasons that make these cities experience incredible growth when compared to the quickly-fading European population.

If there is something we missed, feel free to tell us in the comment section.

Fertility Rates

The fertility rate is a measure of the number of children that would be born from a woman, on average, over the period of her lifetime. It is based on the age-specific fertility rates observed in a given year.

The total fertility rate (TFR) is calculated by summing up the age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) for women in a specific area or population and multiplying that sum by the width of the age intervals used to calculate the ASFRs.

This is likely the number 1 factor to explain why the population of these cities will expand so drastically, but not the only one.

It is not a coincidence that all five cities are either in Sweden or France.

These are the two countries with the highest fertility rates in Europe!

As of 2021, these are the fertility rates in the European Union are:

Malta: 1.23
Spain: 1.24
Italy: 1.27
Cyprus: 1.32
Greece: 1.35
Portugal: 1.36
Slovenia: 1.39
Latvia: 1.42
Croatia: 1.43
Lithuania: 1.44
Austria: 1.45
Romania: 1.46
Poland: 1.47
Bulgaria: 1.49
Estonia: 1.50
Czech Republic: 1.52
Slovakia: 1.53
Hungary: 1.53
Germany: 1.54
Luxembourg: 1.54
Finland: 1.57
Belgium: 1.59
Ireland: 1.64
Netherlands: 1.65
Denmark: 1.67
Sweden: 1.76
France: 1.84

So yes, more babies, more people. No mystery so far, until we ask ourselves:

Why the fertility rate is so much higher in France or Sweden?

To answer this question, we should look for another piece of data.

Percentage of the Population With a Foreigner Background

Here is the percentage of the population with a foreign background in the European Union countries, as of 2021:

Average of the EU-27 countries: 10.3% of the population has a foreign background.

By country:

Bulgaria: 2.2%
Romania: 2.5%
Poland: 2.8%
Latvia: 4.5%
Lithuania: 6.2%
Croatia: 6.4%
Portugal: 6.8%
Greece: 7.0%
Estonia: 8.4%
Slovakia: 10.3%
Hungary: 10.8%
Cyprus: 17.4%
Czech Republic: 17.8%
Malta: 18.5%
Austria: 19.0%
Italy: 19.3%
Slovenia: 19.8%
Spain: 21.9%
Belgium: 22.3%
Germany: 25.2%
Finland: 28.5%
France: 31.5%
Denmark: 32.5%
Netherlands: 35.9%
Ireland: 37.2%
Sweden: 40.3%
Luxembourg: 47.1%

How do this data explain the higher fertility rates?

Studies confirmed that immigrant families (and the following generations) have higher fertility rates than local families.

This may be for various reasons, like:

Cultural aspects.
The arrival in a more peaceful and prosperous environment stimulates motherhood.
In some cases, welfare benefits.

Social Housing is abundant in ALL these cities

Here things start to be really curious and even can be useful for public leaders willing to act with success to revert the downward demographic trend of their cities.

All the cities mentioned above have ample and expanding offers of social housing.

This does not mean free housing. This is not what social housing is, at least not in the definition used in most European cities.

Social housing in Europe generally refers to affordable housing that is available to individuals and families with low or moderate incomes, and often to those with other social or health needs as well.

The higher affordability of social housing is due to:

Tax breaks
Housing expansion projects that build a large number of housing units, fullfiling the demand and driving down the price of the real estate market and making it more affordable.
Special subsidies for families.

Few things are more necessary for couples willing to have a kid than the security of a roof over their heads.

Here is the percentage of social housing over the total housing offer in each of the 5 fastest growing cities in Europe:

Bordeaux: approximately 20% of all residential units are social housing, according to data from the French Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities. This means that 1 in 5 dwellings in Bordeaux is categorized as social housing.
Toulouse: 18% of all residential offer is social housing, according to data from the French Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities.
Gothenburg has approximately 23% of its residences classified as social housing, according to data from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning.
The city of Stockholm has approximately 22% of its residences defined as social housing, according to the same source from above.
Malmo: the city of Malmö had approximately 24% of its residential units classified as social housing. Almost 1 in 4 dwellings in Malmö are social housing.

Tl;Dr: The Fastest Growing Cities in Europe

While the European Population is expected to decrease and cities like Athens (Greece) or Katowice (Poland) may lose almost 40% of their population, certain parts are predicted to have explosive growth.

The fastest growing cities in Europe in terms of projected population are:

5th — Bordeaux, France

4th — Toulouse, France

3rd — Gothenburg, Sweden

2nd — Stockholm, Sweden (We wrote an exclusive article about violence in Stockholm.)

1st — Malmo, Sweden

The common factors among these European cities are:

All of them are in the countries with the highest fertility rates in Europe (Sweden and France)
A large share of the population with a foreign background
Ample offer of social housing.

If you enjoyed this article about the fastest growing cities in Europe, here are a few other travel tips and reading suggestions for you:

The 7 Countries With The Worst Work-Life Balance in The OECD

The Best Cities for Remote Workers in 2023

The Mind-Blowing Tourist Scams You Can Find in Europe

Levi Borba is the founder of The Expatriate Consultancy, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, meaning that the author will have a commission for any transactions.

Business in Europe

Polish Citizens Returning to Poland Due to Huge Economic…

A Story of Economic Success: How Poland Is Motivating Polish Citizens to Return

It was almost 10 years ago, and I started dating a girl* from a country that I had little knowledge about back then.

She told me she was from a city called Lodz (that is not really how you write the name of this place, but I cannot find the special characters here on this keyboard). I googled the city and found an article from the British tabloid The Sun (one of the best-selling British newspapers). The headline?

The Polish city that’s moved to Britain.

The article, later removed from the newspaper website after the city mayor threatened to sue them, had some grim descriptions of the place, like:

Derelict buildings, boarded-up businesses, crumbling masonry — the poor and elderly getting in line to buy bread.

On Piotrkowska Street, which at three miles long is one of the longest high streets in the world, the cobbled thoroughfare is empty even in the middle of the day,

Half the adult population has left the city,” one Lodz inhabitant tells, They are in Scotland, London, and Bournemouth, where they have a beautiful flat, a nice TV, a car — things we cannot have here.

Scary, right?

While containing some exaggerations, the article was right at one point: indeed many people left Lodz during the first decade of this century. The population fell from nearly 850 thousand in the 1990s to less than 700.000. Most of those who left were working, productive adults.

Let’s be clear with one thing: Lodz maybe is not among the best places to live in Poland.

But this wasn’t just something that happened in Lodz; it happened all over the country.

Because Poland was not a good place to live back then — at least not when compared to most of the countries whose doors were open when the nation gained access to the European Union.

But the trend has changed in the last 5 years.

It changed a lot.

In this article, I’ll show you how amazing that change is and how absolutely incredible the Polish development has been.

Post-communist Poland: Violence, Corruption, And Poverty

One of the comments that I often hear from my fellow Brazilians living here in Poland is about how safe this country is.

And Poland is remarkably safe. 7-year-old kids walk alone to school even in a large city like Warsaw (one of the cities with most public libraries in the world and with one of the cutest old towns), something unthinkable even in some European countries.

For example, unlike Russia, Polish infrastructure improvements ensured that the country did not rank among the dirtiest cities in the world.

But it was not always like that.

Poland was much more violent in the 90s. Not “Brazil” violent, but much more violent than what you would expect from a European country.

Historical series of the homicide rate in Poland. Source: theglobaleconomy.com

Post-communist Poland also had very high levels of poverty and a very fragile economy. During the first half of the 90s, the country had one of the highest inflation rates in the world. According to the National Bank of Poland, monthly rises in prices went over 50%.

During the next decade, things improved.

They improved fast enough to grant the country accession to the European Union, but not quick enough to avoid a tremendous exodus of young people after this same accession happens.

Check also: The Easiest Countries to Adopt a Baby.

2005 — The Great Polish Emigration Wave Begins

Poland entered the European Union in 2004. The chart below shows the effect this had on the number of Poles emigrating:

Number of Poles applying for permanent residence in other European Union countries, before the trend of Polish citizens returning to Poland starts. Source: stat.gov.pl — Number of Poles applying for permanent residence in the top 4 destinations among European Union countries. Source: stat.gov.pl and Eurasian research.

The article from The Sun that I mentioned was written in 2013, which was 9 years after Poland joined the European Union.

So the article was written after 9 years of consecutive waves of young, hard-working, and (mostly) educated Poles emigrating to other EU countries looking for higher salaries.

This could be a permanent trend, but only 3 years later, in 2016, the trend started to change, and the number of Poles leaving Poland started to decrease more and more, until…

It reverted, and we saw Polish citizens returning to Poland in higher numbers than they left.

Moving Out, Working Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity Cover — Recommended book: Moving Out, Working Abroad, and Keeping Your Sanity

Check also: The Best Cities to Live in Poland

2016 — The Polish Economic Miracle Builds the Trend of Polish Citizens Returning to Poland

Maybe it is difficult to realize what the chart you are about to see really means.

Even if you say that it shows one of the most amazing examples of success in modern economies, that still doesn’t do it justice.

It is just beyond belief that until a few decades ago, the same country was on par with the likes of Ukraine or Mexico in terms of net emigration, completely reversed the trend, and started to attract immigrants and its own citizens back.

Estimated number of Polish Emigrants (in millions of people) between the years 2004 and 2020, clearly showing the dimension of Polish citizens returning to Poland. Source: https://obserwatorgospodarczy.pl/

The chart above shows that, since 2017, the total number of Poles living abroad has dropped from over 3 million to only 2,23 million.

This is one of the largest recorded mass movements of people returning from abroad to their homeland, at least during modern times (during antiquity, this kind of returning movement was more common, the Hebrews probably know that).

But what motivated so many Poles to return to Poland?

It is difficult to really point out a single factor, so here are some points that can help to explain it:

Unemployment in Poland dropped from 19.9% two decades ago to only 3.16% in 2021. This is one of the lowest levels in the European Union.

Chart of Unemployment in Poland. Low unemployment helps to understand so many Polish citizens returning to Poland. Sources: Statista and World Bank. — Unemployment in Poland. Sources: Statista and World Bank.

The Polish income per capita increased from $4,476 two decades ago to $19,020 in 2022.
A record number of companies in sectors like IT are moving to Poland, offering Poles abroad the opportunity to return.
Despite the increase in per capita income, the cost of living in Poland is remarkably low when compared to other EU countries. Living in London, for example, costs almost 2.5 times more than in Warsaw (and Warsaw is the most expensive city in Poland). Curiosity: Poland has one of the cheapest Uber rates on the entire planet, although some items like lettuce are extremely expensive.
Some people that moved out a few years ago have already saved as much as they wanted and returned with their full pockets.
Some of the people that returned actually are not born in Poland but are holders of the Karta Polaka, a card that ensures they are (by blood) members of the Polish nation.

There must be many other reasons that go undetected, like the increasing violence in certain European countries — I know a Polish citizen that returned to Poland from Sweden saying that it is safer here.

What is more shocking in this case is how quickly and to what extent Poland, a country once poorer than Ukraine, is able to attract brains from much wealthier nations such as the United Kingdom or Sweden.

Thoughts?

Ps: The girl I mentioned at the beginning is now my wife.

If you enjoyed this article about Polish citizens returning to Poland, here are a few other reading suggestions for you:

Prepare for Winter: 16 Uncommon (And Crazy Cheap) Ways in 2022

The Dreamy Destination That’s 50% Cheaper to Live In than Spain or Florida

Study Abroad in Poland: Why It is Becoming so Popular?

Make the best of your 24 hours in Poland’s capital.

Subscribe (for free) to receive my articles directly in your inbox and receive a special gift. If you enjoy this article, please consider becoming a Medium member by using this link and have access to premium, unbiased content from authors not tied to big media.

Book: Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide: 50 Tips, Tricks, Hacks, and Ways to Free Stuff & Cheaper Flights — Recommended book: Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide: 50 Tips, Tricks, Hacks, and Ways to Free Stuff & Cheaper Flights

Business in Europe

How to Immigrate to Spain

A 5-Point Checklist on Moving to Spain

When you think about moving to Europe, Spain is one of the few countries that will make you come up with new ideas. Let’s face it, this bright corner of Europe has something for everyone. Many people would ask themselves how to immigrate to Spain because it has great food, beautiful scenery, amazing culture, and a laid-back way of life.

However…

It is not all flowers and scents. Before you move, there are a few things you need to know. Basic stuff that often people ignored lured by the enchanting Iberian peninsula.

This article was a contribution from a friend that went through this experience and decide to share the best of his insights.

If you are already thinking about retirement, check our special about the best cities to retire in Spain.

Do Your Research Well Before Moving to Spain

When moving to Spain, conducting thorough research about your soon-to-be new home is crucial. Ensure your research covers all important aspects, from the overall cost of living, local housing, and education, to the price of essential commodities in Spanish supermarkets.

One piece of good news is that, at least in terms of security, Spain is a very safe country. However, big cities have their bad and good neighborhoods (we investigated what are the good and dangerous areas of Madrid in this article). The most dangerous places in Spain are often communities on the outskirts of large cities.

If you are in doubt about which city to move to, take a look at our Expat Living City Guide.

The best way to get such information is by linking up with the expat community in the local Spanish town you intend to move to. Online platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp groups, where members freely interact and answer queries, will be helpful.

Several websites also have detailed guides on almost anything you want to know about how to immigrate to Spain.

Check also: Retiring in Switzerland – What You Need to Know

Remind about Health Insurance

Arranging for proper health coverage for you and your family is one of the most important things you may have to do before relocating to Spain. It will give you the peace of mind needed to start your life in a foreign country. Health Insurance in Spain applies in both private and public hospitals.

While most local citizens prefer the public healthcare system, many immigrants relocating to Spain choose to go with private healthcare insurance, even before they land in the country.

Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona…Choosing Where To Live in Spain

After equipping yourself with all the facts you need to know about how to immigrate to Spain, you must choose where to live carefully.

Suppose you fall in the category of people relocating for family commitments or work. In that case, the decision on where to reside is determined by the location of your family residence or workplace.

Another issue is connectivity. If you are going to live in a smaller town, it will be harder to either visit or be visited by your family and friends (unless the city has some exceptional attractions). In this matter, often large cities are better, and Barcelona is one of the cheapest destinations to fly to in Europe.

If you are not in the above two categories, your options are always wide open. You can choose to live in several interesting places when moving to Spain. For instance, many expatriates prefer the capital, Madrid, or beachside Barcelona because of the numerous job opportunities in the two Spanish cities (not even mentioning that Barcelona has one of the most beautiful parks in Europe).

Prepare for a New Schedule

Spain uses a different time zone (GMT+1). Hence, when moving into the country, you must be prepared to adapt to a new schedule. For example, you will realize that Portugal, a neighbor to Spain, has the same schedule as the UK, while Spain doesn’t.

Due to their unique time zone and culture, you might also have to adjust to different mealtimes.

Most people in Spain eat their lunch at 3 pm and have late dinners, at around 9 pm, with the two being the most important meals of the day. During meals, they prefer a proper sit down with family and friends over la Comida — which means — “the meal.”

Know the Cost of Living

When relocating to Spain, you need to understand the cost of living in the country and prepare your finances accordingly. This is an essential part on the “how” to immigrate to Spain.

Fortunately for you…

Spain is perhaps the cheapest to live in among the Western European countries. For instance, prices of commodities in Spain are, on average, 18.74% lower than those in the UK. The rent costs in the two countries are projected to be 28.17% cheaper in Spain compared to the UK.

When we compare capitals, the difference is even more shocking: Madrid is 45% cheaper than London. Even on small things, we can check the affordability of Madrid compared to the rest of the European capitals, like in this comparison of Uber rates.

Hence, it is no surprise to see many British retirees relocating to spend their pension under the Spanish sun. In fact, 2 of the 10 best cities to retire in Europe are located in Spain (Alicante, in 4th, and Valencia, in the first place). Spain is also overall one of the best countries in the world for retirement.

Picture of Valencia, one of the favorite places of those asking how to immigrate to Spain. — Valencia, one of the favorite places of those asking how to immigrate to Spain

Conclusion on How to Immigrate to Spain

Finally, before you move to Spain, it is important to remember that the country is rich in culture and traditions which heavily influences the Spanish people’s lifestyles.

You will realize that they have a unique way of greetings, eating, dating, and celebrating the many local festivities. To avoid culture shocks and make settling in Spain much easier, you are better off taking your time to learn about the country’s culture and traditions.

If you enjoyed this article about how to immigrate to Spain, here are a few other reading suggestions for you:

How Belgrade Defeated Criminal Clans and Became a Prime Destination

The Most Violent Cities in Europe BY COUNTRY

The Good and the Bad of the 2nd Most Impressive Italian City

Why You Should Visit This Once-Famine-Ravaged Country, Now One of the World’s Richest

Levi Borba is the founder of The Expatriate Consultancy, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. Some of the links of this article may be affiliate links, meaning that the author will have a commission for any transaction.

Business in Europe

Inequality in Russia

How Russia Is One of the Most Unequal Countries on the Entire Planet

Since my childhood in Brazil, I always heard about how our country is unequal in terms of income and wealth, so since high school, we have been taught about something called the Gini Coefficient because we know that Brazil performs very badly on it.

The problem is that the Gini coefficient is not a very good measure of certain countries.

Why?

While the Gini coefficient measures the distribution of income in a society, it does not count for two things:

1st: The income that is earned by people from that certain country but are not brought to its economy (eg: Russian oligarchs with large bank accounts in Dubai).

2nd: It does not measure the regional disparities.

I am not here trying to invalidate the Gini coefficient. Brazil is an unequal country, and that is visible in our society.

BUT…

As someone who has traveled to every continent since I left Brazil almost a decade ago, I dare to say that Brazil is not even close to being among the worst cases. And here I bring up the matter of Russia.

Because Russia, despite having one of the most affordable educational systems in the world, is an extremely unequal country when you observe its regional disparities. Something that has deep roots in the very genesis of the Russian state (more about it later).

So I decided to compare the income per capita of the richest and poorest regions of different countries in the world (at least those that have public information easily available, so sorry North Korea, you are not part of my little study).

Criteria for a Regional Approach to Income Inequality in Different Countries, including Russia.

I made it simple.

Basically, I compared the most recent data from multiple sources like Statista (for the United Kingdom and a few other countries), Eurostat (for EU countries like Poland), and UNDP (for Russia).

On these websites, I searched for the sub-unit (meaning state, province, region, voivodeship, oblast, etc) GDP per capita. Not PPP, since there are different methodologies for PPP calculation, but nominal GDP per capita.

Then, using an excel sheet, I calculated the income difference between the richest and poorest sub-unit of each country.

The results are shown in the table below.

Country	Year	Richest State/Unit	GDP Per Capita (US$)	Richest State/Unit	GDP Per Capita (US$)	Difference
Russia	2018	Moscow	$22,060	Ingushetia	$1,790	1132%
India	2020	Goa	$6,227	Bihar	$661	842%
Mexico	2018	Campeche	$67,233	Chiapas	$7,255	827%
Brazil	2019	Distrito Federal	$22,677	Maranhão	$3,515	545%
Colombia	2016	Casanare	$26,546	Vaupés	$4,293	518%
France	2018	Île de France	$70,500	Mayotte	$11,800	497%
The United States	2021	Washington	$226,861	Mississippi	$42,411	435%
Poland	2019	Warsaw	$30,612	Lubelskie	$9,535	221%
Italy	2018	South Tyrol	$55,600	Calabria	$19,100	191%
Japan	2014	Tokyo	$68,776	Nara	$24,970	175%
The United Kingdom	2020	London	$55,974	North East	$23,109	142%
Germany	2019	Hamburg	$78,904	Saxony-Anhalt	$33,978	132%
Canada	2019	Northwest Territories	$100,871	Nova Scotia	$47,837	111%

Income inequality between the richest and poorest administrative units of each country. Multiple sources (to check, see first paragraphs).

A Regional Approach to Income Inequality in Russia

As expected, developed countries like Canada, Germany, and the UK all had relatively low inequality between their richest and poorest regions.

Inside the US, a country with 50 states, the richest unit (Washington DC) has a GDP per capita 435% higher than the poorest (Mississippi).

France is a bit of an outlier when compared to other European countries because their overseas possessions are relatively poor, and that is the case of Mayotte, an island close to Mozambique. Île de France, the department where Paris is located, has an income six times larger than Mayotte.

As one could expect, all the analyzed Latin American countries have very high regional inequality. In Brazil and Colombia, the richest regions have more than six times the income of the poorest ones. In Mexico, it is almost 10 times more.

In India, a country with over 1 billion people and where a caste system still exists in some regions, the richest region (the former Portuguese colony of Goa) has a GDP per capita 842% higher than the poorest region, Bihar.

But none (I repeat: none) of these countries have regional inequality close to that of Russia.

Check also: Debunking the Myth “Sanctions Against Russia Aren’t Working”

Why does Russia have so much Inequality?

Image of Moscow. Regional income inequality in Russia has some very expressive numbers.

Moscow has a GDP per capita that is 1132% higher than the poorest region.

There are some other regions in Russia that also have high incomes, but due to their very small populations (e.g., the Nenets Autonomous Okrug has a GDP per capita larger than Moscow, but since it has only 42 thousand residents, it is likely that a single entity or person is skewing this number). If we considered these regions, the regional inequality in Russia would be even higher.

There are many explanations for why Russia has so much inequality, but many fail to consider that this inequality is not a recent phenomenon. It is historical, and has existed for centuries across many regimes: from Czarist Russia to the Soviets and now to Putin’s government.

There is one single expression that may explain why there is so much variation between regions.An expression proudly repeated by Russian ideologues like Alexander Duguin, but which bears a much more sinister meaning:

Russia as the “The Third Rome”

I will not enter into all the complex explanations behind the idea that for centuries, Russian intellectuals considered their country the successor of Rome, but rather on the economical implications of it.

Rome prospered and thrived by exploring the outskirts of the empire. Yes, they also brought law and protected the borders, this is true, but the heavy taxes and enslaved rebels from the provinces were some of the most important foundations of the Roman economy.

When the Roman empire ceased to expand, it was the beginning of its downfall.

And the very idea of “Third Rome”, which forms the expansionist Russian ideology, explains a little of why Russia needs to expand. Why do the Czars, Trotsky, Khrushchev, and now Putin all need to expand? Because Moscow requires resources, just like Rome needed them.

And Russia is now facing one of the worst population declines in the entire world, just as Rome suffered back then.

If you enjoyed this article about inequality in Russia, check these below:

The Most Dangerous Cities in Europe

The Cost of Living in London vs The Cost of Living in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and Warsaw

These 5 Countries Are Getting Stronger with the Turmoils of 2022

The Chinese Banking Bankruptcy Could Trigger the Mother of All Crises

Levi Borba is the founder of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author.

Best Countries Ranking

The Most Dangerous Cities in Europe in 2023 (The…

The 10 Most Dangerous Cities in Europe in 2023

Have you ever asked yourself what is the most dangerous city in Europe?

The old continent has a much lower level of violence than Africa or Latin America. To put it in perspective, São Paulo, the safest of the 27 Brazilian state capitals, would still be more violent than any European country except Russia (which has many similarities to Brazil). So it may sound odd an article about the most dangerous cities in Europe. You can be sure that even the most unsafe city in this ranking is not among the most dangerous cities in the world.

But violence is not always inexistent in Europe. After all, the old continent is home to 44 countries and nearly 800 million people.

While it is safe in general, it is also a very unequal continent. Western Europe has some of the most developed countries in the world, but Eastern nations like Belarus, Albania, or Moldova have a development level comparable to places in Latin America or Asia.

When discussing violence, it is important to consider shared factors that help explain its prevalence in a specific country, similar to our analysis of the most dangerous cities in Mexico in this article.

Therefore, when we talk about the ten most dangerous cities in Europe, one might assume that the majority of them are in the poorer nations of Eastern Europe.

But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, nine of Europe’s ten most dangerous cities are located in developed, western countries. Needless to say that none of the cities mentioned in this list are among the best places to retire in the world.

Curiously also, none of these dangerous cities are among the most beautiful capitals in Europe.

Check also: Hold Your Breath: The Dirtiest Cities in the World!

Before starting the list of the 10 most dangerous cities in Europe, it is important to understand the criteria behind this ranking.

Budget Travelers Digital Nomad and Expats Book — Book recommended: Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide: 50 Tips, Tricks, Hacks and Ways to Free Stuff & Cheaper Flights

The criteria to define the most violent cities in Europe

Numbeo’s Crime Index is built using data from cities all over the world and their local inhabitants to determine the severity of perceived crime and safety levels. The survey is conducted twice a year. It focuses on increases in crime over the previous three years, as well as issues regarding break-ins, thefts, robberies, and being attacked in the city.

The statistics are derived from a variety of sources, such as surveys. The questions in these surveys are similar to those in many other scientific and government assessments, and they are treated to eliminate outliers or untrustworthy data.

Numbeo uses data up to 36 months old to generate the index (which is constantly updated). They only include cities with a sufficient number of data points to be statistically reliable.

What is considered “Dangerous” or “Safe”?

Cities with a crime index value of less than 20 have a low prevalence of crime. Some examples of cities with index values less than 20 are Zurich, Bern, Lugano (all of them in Switzerland, explaining why it is among the best retirement destinations for the rich), and Funchal in Portugal. While the US is considered more “dangerous” than Europe by many, the crime rates in major cities can be quite low in some cases.

The worst city in the world in this index is Caracas, in Venezuela, with an index value of 84, followed by Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and Pretoria, South Africa, both scoring 82.

The most dangerous city in Europe scored a whopping 70.76. This is worse than São Paulo (Brazil) or Mexico City. Time to reveal its name and the entire top ten.

Reminder: these numbers don’t take into consideration the recent war between Russia and Ukraine. By the way, we also wrote an article about what you should do in case of conflict.

Is Europe Dangerous?

Europe isn’t dangerous; that’s a simple fact. Comparatively, the violence rates in Europe are incredibly low. Across Europe, the annual homicide rate is 3.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. In comparison with the United States, Africa, or Latin America, that is very low.

That is why when people call Glasgow “the murder capital of Europe“, you should hear it with a pinch of salt (although Glasgow is indeed the most dangerous city in Scotland).

However, as you may discover in the next paragraphs, some cities are becoming increasingly violent, including crimes like sexual assault.

You may also get surprised by the absence of some names in this list, cities that once were famous for their violence, like Belgrade in Serbia, but now are relatively safe.

The ranking below has the most dangerous cities in Europe, but if we also wrote about the most dangerous city in each European country.

The 10 Most Dangerous Cities in Europe to Visit

10th — Malmo, Sweden

Crime Index Score: 56.75

Comparable to: Indianapolis, IN (USA) or Johor Bahru (Malaysia

Why is Malmo so dangerous:

Over the past two years, Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, has become one of Europe’s most dangerous cities and is sometimes compared to Chicago in the US. Curiously, it is also the fastest-growing city in Europe.

In one single year, Malmo had 65 shootings. Consider that the city has less than 350 thousand inhabitants and this data gives an idea of how violent this Swedish city became.

There were also cases of attacks with hand grenades.

Swedish media say that half of these victims are connected to organized crime networks and gangs. Others attribute it to the city’s changing demographics: Malmo has become a magnet for immigrants over the years —almost 40% of its population comes from abroad.

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Malmo

If you are visiting Malmo, the finest (also in terms of cost-benefit) area to stay in is near Gamla Staden. It’s convenient to everything, and it’s also one of the most attractive places, rich with historical buildings. Furthermore, it is far safer than areas such as Rosengard.

Check also: From bird drops to lucky eyes, there are some very creative tourist scams in Europe.

09th — Naples, Italy

Crime Index Score: 58.52

Comparable to: San Francisco, CA (USA) or Noida (India)

Why is Naples so dangerous:

As the regional capital of Campania, Naples is one of the largest cities in Italy. It has a long and rich history, and it’s filled with amazing architecture, arts, and sounds. Unfortunately, Naples is also famous for its crime rate.

This southern Italian city is chaotic and sometimes dangerous. In 2020, Naples was the #1 province in Italy in terms of robberies, which happened at a rate of 95 per 100,000 people.

One Italian described his impressions of Naples for the website The Top Tens:

I am Italian and have actually been to Naples a few times. The first time I was in middle school, I got my wallet stolen as soon as I got there. Then I went again recently for business. The city is, in all honesty, a mess. It’s dirty, noisy, smelly. There are ALWAYS people harassing you, even multiple times in a single day.[…] On the good side, the food is just amazing. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Naples

Last time in Naples, we chose to stay in the Capodimonte district, and we did not regret it! Aside from being considerably cleaner than the city center, the rates are reasonable, and there are several great local trattorias and bakeries nearby. The region’s proximity to major sites such as the Capodimonte Palace and the Catacombs of Saint Januarius is a great bonus.

08th — Nice, France

Crime Index Score: 58.85

Comparable to: Nairobi, Kenya, or Washington, DC, in the United States.

Where should you avoid in Nice?

Nice’s most dangerous neighborhoods are those on the outskirts of the city center, where crime is much higher.

Often residents of these areas fear going out at night or running into criminals while walking around their neighborhood because they are not sure what will happen. Because the police presence is so low in these areas, they are more vulnerable to crime.

With over 2348 CCTVs installed in the streets, public transportation, and parking lots, the center and other districts are relatively “safe.”

Many people remember Nice for what happened on July 14, 2016. On this day, a 19-tonne cargo truck was purposefully pushed into a crowd of people, killing 86 innocents.

However, this was not the city’s first (or last) encounter with violence.

Check also our article about Cons and Pros of Living in France

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Nice

The region around the Massena square is a favorite of tourists visiting Nice for a few reasons: besides being safe, it is beautiful and well-connected.

07th — Minsk, Belarus

Crime Index Score: 59.85

Comparable to: Delhi, India or Nantes, France

Is Minsk safe to visit?

While statistics from Belarus may not be the most reliable in Europe, it is no wonder to find Minsk among the most violent cities in this ranking.

The most common crimes in Mink are theft and assault. Street crime is not a common occurrence in the Belarussian capital, but harassment from both organized crime and public agents are among the reasons locals few unsafe.

The US Department of State recently issued a Do Not Travel memorandum for all American citizens, citing, among other things, the possibility of foreigners being harassed by local officers.

There was also the prominent case of a KGB officer involved in a double homicide in 2021.

06th — Nantes, France

Crime Index Score: 60.06

Comparable to: Brasilia, Brazil, or Catania, Italy

Is Nantes a safe city?

Nantes, located on the Loire River’s bank, is the most dangerous city in France on this ranking.

The total crime rate in Nantes has increased during the last years. The most common crimes in Nantes are assaults, fights, rapes, thefts, and burglaries. Especially the districts of Centre-Ville and Les Hauts-Pavés/Saint-Félix are dangerous because the number of assaults occurring there is high.

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Nantes

Our choice here is Centre-Ville, since it has a decent structure and is one of the most connected districts in Nantes.

05th — Catania, Italy

Crime Index Score: 60.36

Comparable to: Ghaziabad, India

Why Catania is dangerous?

Catania is the second-largest city in Sicily and has been hit by earthquakes over the years that left their mark on the city. If you look at pictures of the city, you will see that there are large areas of wasteland, abandoned buildings, and factories.

The city has a certain reputation. It is not just tourists who are at risk of being targeted by thieves but also those who live there. The streets are loaded with people who want to make money from tourists, so you need to be careful when you go out after dark.

There are also complex issues with organized crime (also known as mafia) that, for decades, haunted the region. The catholic church in the city even banned nominated godfathers during baptisms to avoid the blessing of criminal ties.

04th — Birmingham, United Kingdom

Crime Index Score: 61.53

Comparable to: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, or Anchorage (Alaska), in the United States.

Birmingham, one of the 10 most dangerous cities in Europe

Why is Birmingham so dangerous?

In 2021, Birmingham had 116.93 crimes reported for every 1000 inhabitants. The third-largest city in England (the 2nd is Manchester, which is safe compared to Birmingham) also has the second-worst robbery rate among large English cities, with 3.36 currencies for every 1000 people.

Birmingham has some of the highest crime rates in the country, and many parts of the city are blighted by gangs and drugs.

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Birmingham

03rd — Marseille, France

Crime Index Score: 61.65

Comparable to: Guadalajara, Mexico

Why is Marseille so dangerous?

According to the French writer Charles Dantzig, Marseilles is a port city with a tradition of gangsters.

And he is right. Marseille is a port city on France’s southeast coast, near the mouth of the Rhone. It’s one of France’s largest cities and has a population of nearly 900,000.

Unfortunately, Marseille suffers from high levels of crime (compared to other parts of France), with gang violence and pickpocketing being the most common offenses affecting tourists.

The most dangerous areas to avoid in Marseille are the northern suburbs — neighborhoods such as L’Estaque and Le Panier are plagued by crime. However, it’s important to realize that other parts of Marseille can be equally dangerous — especially at night.

In 2021, a string of murders in Marseille has sparked a political uproar over drug gang turf wars terrorizing poor housing estates, where one recent shooting victim was only 14 years old.

The Best (and Safest) District to Stay if You Are Travelling to Marseille

The Old Port district of Marseille is the heart of the city, very close to the antique Hellenistic port. Nowadays it offers a nice walk on both side, with many bars and restaurants.

02nd — Coventry, United Kingdom

Crime Index Score: 69.45

Comparable to: Lima, Peru, or Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Why is Coventry so dangerous?

Coventry is an English city located in the West Midlands, approximately 100 miles northwest of London (a place where violence is also a problem in some areas). It is the tenth-largest city in England and the 12th largest in the United Kingdom.

The city is known for being the birthplace of St. George, but also has a history of figuring among the most dangerous cities in the UK and Europe.

The crime rates, however, are falling drastically in Coventry, and maybe these rankings are being slightly unfair. Between 2020 and 2021, the city had a decrease of almost 50% in its crime rate. While in 2020, Coventry had 29,615 crimes, in 2021 there were only 15,258 occurrences.

Therefore, it is understandable why, this year, Coventry lost the top spot to another British city.

01st — The most dangerous cities in the UK is also the most dangerous city in Europe

Bradford, United Kingdom

Crime Index Score: 70.76

Comparable to: Saint Louis, MO, United States, or Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Why is Bradford so dangerous?

Bradford is a city in the North of England. It’s quite a dangerous city, with crime rates almost twice the national average.

Crime in Bradford is mostly centered around drugs, prostitution, and violent crime. The most dangerous part of Bradford is the city center, but other areas such as Girlington, Clayton, Little Horton, and Manningham are also quite dangerous.

For a few years, the city was a hotspot for rapes and sexual assaults, particularly in Keighley, a Bradford district that was also home to one of the many child grooming gangs operating in the UK at the time.

Bradford is a relatively poor city by UK standards. The government is pouring money into the city in the hope that better living conditions will also help to solve the violence problem.

In one year Bradford, a city with 536 thousand residents, had

1,724 Occurrences of burglary
2,448 Occurrences of Vehicle Crime
4,888 Occurrences of criminal damage and arson

And here is the most impressive statistics:

22,870 Sexual offenses, and it is getting worse. Sexual offenses correspond to 42% of all crimes committed in Bradford.

Travel Safety Tips

If you are traveling to any of the cities listed in this ranking (or elsewhere), there are a few things you can do to travel SAFER and avoid any unpleasant surprises.

1st – Buy travel insurance that also covers theft-related expenses. Although it is often very inexpensive to purchase such insurance in Europe, many people ignore this small precaution and end up disappointed. I recommend the company Ekta, which provides some of the most innovative solutions for travelers, allowing you to relax and enjoy your vacation without worry.

2nd – Don’t let “drivers” trick you by offering to pick you up at the airport or train/bus stations. They often try to cheat people, which can be dangerous. I prefer to use GetTransfer, a website that compares multiple, reputable transfer providers and offers you the best price. It is the best way to plan ahead of time.

3rd – Avoid walking around with your luggage. Radical Storage is a website that shows safe locations where you can leave your luggage, pay a small fee, and pick it up after touring the city.

Conclusion: Crime in Europe – The Most Dangerous Cities

In conclusion, despite Europe’s overall reputation as one of the safest continents on the globe, the reality is more nuanced. The continent certainly has its fair share of vibrant cities filled with rich history, stunning architecture, and delicious food. However, within some of its most popular tourist destinations like Marseille, Nice, or Athens, an undercurrent of crime persists.

The top 10 most dangerous cities in Europe listed earlier in this article highlight areas where crime rates are significantly higher than average, with issues ranging from pickpocketing and petty theft to more violent crimes like murder and assault.

While Western Europe, with its bustling city centers and a plethora of attractions, generally feel safe, it’s essential to keep in mind that some places demand extra attention, like the cities listed in the previous paragraphs of this article.

Overall, the key to staying safe in these dangerous European cities is vigilance and preparedness. In a few paragraphs below, we give you some extra tips that are highly recommended to follow. Visitors should do their research, stay alert, and take common-sense precautions like not displaying valuables publicly, using secure methods of transportation, and avoiding secluded locations. It’s also wise to stick to well-populated areas, especially at night.

Europe is a tapestry of diverse experiences and varying levels of safety. The continent’s beauty, history, and cultural richness far outweigh its challenges, but being aware of potential risks is a crucial part of any travel plan.

According to the Numbeo Crime Index Ranking, these are the 10 most dangerous cities in Europe.

10th — Malmo, Sweden
9th — Naples, Italy
08th — Nice, France
07th — Minsk, Belarus
06th — Nantes, France
05th — Catania, Italy
04th — Birmingham, United Kingdom
03rd — Marseille, France
02nd — Coventry, United Kingdom
01st — Bradford, United Kingdom

Some curious facts about them:

None of the most dangerous cities in Europe analyzed are even close to being among the most dangerous cities in the world, although Bradford comes close in terms of sexual assaults.
60% of all the cities in this ranking are either in the UK or France.
Only 1 city is located in eastern Europe: Minsk.
This ranking didn’t take into consideration the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Safety Tips For Visiting These Cities

1st — If you are visiting for a day, there are plenty of options in terms of luggage storage, so you don’t need to walk around with your carry-on bags. Reliable, convenient, and inexpensive luggage storage services you can find at Radical Storage.

2nd — If you want to walk around and see some lovely spots without the risk of getting lost or wasting your time, hire a guide. You can find some amazing and reliable guides and tours at Viator. They will give you insider information about historical facts and curiosities, and also warn you of risky areas and keep you safe.

3rd — Book a transfer in advance to your final destination. I often used Get Transfer for that and it always worked fine.

4th—Stay in a good hostel. Hostels are usually in the best parts of cities (at least in Europe and South America), unlike hotels. Most hostels have private rooms that are as comfortable as a hotel, plus a friendly staff to give information. When looking for hostels, I visit Hostelworld and filter for those above grade 7.

5th — As travel insurance for visiting Europe, we recommend Ekta.

So, in this article we told you which cities are NOT that safe in Europe, but where are the safe ones? Are there places where I can enjoy the European atmosphere without the need to worry much?

Yes, and here are some ideas (tested by our own editors!):

If you enjoyed this article about the most dangerous cities in Europe, check also:

Is Rio de Janeiro Safe?

Argentina — Once a Paradise for War Criminals, Now a Great Place to Retire

The Best Cities to Retire in Europe

Best Place to Visit in Europe on Each Month of the Year

First, subscribe (for free) to receive my articles directly in your inbox and receive as a special gift the digital book 20 Essential Hacks for Saving Money While Travelling.

Second, if you liked this article, please consider supporting other writers and me by becoming a Medium member. By using this link, you will directly support me with a piece of your fee; there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you a million times if you do!

Levi Borba is the CEO of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel Small Business Hacks, and best-selling author. Subscribe to my articles (for free) and receive (also for free) the ebook “The Blueprint for First-Time Business Owners”.

Business in Europe

Tips for Moving from a Warm Country to Europe…

5 Tips for Moving to Europe

In Europe, there is a sizable amount of expatriates (there are six expat types, discover yours here) from warm places like Australia, Latin America, or the southern regions of the USA. Among them, issues like cultural shock, accommodation, or homesickness receive attention enough. But there are tips for moving to Europe that are almost unheard of.

Things like the “temperature” hindrances are hardly discussed — and here I am not only talking about the weather but also temperament.

The problem is that those forgotten matters affected most, if not all, Latin Americans living in Europe. While some of these issues have inexpensive and easy answers, the lack of attention about them results in us, immigrants, discovering the solution only after having problems.

To be frank, the tips that I will write below may not apply to sun-balmy places like Portugal, Spain or Greece. But if you are moving to countries like Germany, Sweden, or even the UK, keep reading.

These 5 tips for moving to Europe are based on my personal experience as a Brazilian in Poland. They are some of my most valuable insights on moving away from home, and I believe they will be beneficial to you as well.

Check also: The Cheapest Cities to Fly to In Europe and The Most Beautiful Capitals in Europe

1 — Moving to Europe for a Year? Remember about Vitamin D during the Winter!

Winter with snow. If you are moving to Europe for a year or more, and have darker skin tones, be aware that you may lack Vitamin D during the cold season. — If you are moving to Europe for a year or more, and have darker skin tones, be aware that you may lack Vitamin D during the winter.

On average, people that live near the tropics, like Latin Americans, have darker skin tones than most Europeans, particularly those from the continent’s northern and eastern regions.

Darker skin is a convenient adaptation for anyone living in sunny areas such as Brazil’s northeast or the Andean altiplano. Darker tones filter out more of the sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. They have more melanin, which means they are more protected from sunburn and other problems caused by excessive sun exposure, such as skin cancer.

The issue is that the same UVB rays that cause cancer are also responsible for breaking down cholesterol in skin cells, providing energy for the human body’s vitamin D synthesis. Vitamin D is essential for good health, and a lack of it can cause fatigue, muscle cramps, depression, and immune system problems.

During European winters, the sun is a rare visitor, and days are much shorter. In December, for example, the sunset in Warsaw is around 15:30, and the sky can be cloudy for weeks. In the winter, the total amount of sunlight per month is less than 30 hours. To put it into perspective, there isn’t a single month in Buenos Aires or Mexico City that has less than 130 hours of sunlight.

People in countries such as Poland and Estonia have very white skin, which filters fewer UVB rays. So, even with a small amount of sunlight, they get enough UVB to get the vitamin D they need.

That was not my case. I have olive skin, and I spent my first year in Poland constantly feeling ill and getting sick. I went to the doctor, and he ordered an exam, which revealed that I was severely deficient in vitamin D.

My problem of fatigue and constant sickness was solved after I started taking Vitamin D3 supplements during the fall and winter — something that costs me less than 8 euros per month. Now I can enjoy some charming and inexpensive winter destinations in Europe without suffering from lack of vitamin D.

Check also: What is the best country to retire to? Find out here.

2 — Moving to Europe from the US? Here we can go to work by bicycle or roller-skaters!

With a few exceptions, such as Santiago, Chile, most cities that I lived in outside Europe are not bike-friendly and have inadequate public transportation.

If you are moving to Europe from the US, likely you also know what I mean.

Others, such as the Brazilian capital (and planned city) Brasilia, have plenty of cycling routes, but the climate makes riding a bike to work or school unappealing — unless the person doesn’t mind arriving swimming in his sweat.

Things are different in Europe. Yes, the climate in the northern regions is still unfavorable for riding a bike to work during a few months of the year, but for the rest of the year, even in a city as cold as Helsinki, cycling is an excellent mode of transportation. When you consider the safer traffic, the flat topography of most capitals, and the high cost of fuel, it’s easy to see why so many people use bicycles to get around.

You don’t even have to own a bicycle. Large European cities frequently provide bike-rental services, where you pay a nominal charge to ride from one location to another. In Warsaw, this service is known as Veturilo, and the first 20 minutes of renting are free. I went riding one of Veturilo’s bikes when I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. It was a wonderful morning trip that cost me one zloty (less than 30 cents of euro).

As a bonus, it will assist you in absorbing some UVB rays for Vitamin D synthesis (see point 1 above) and staying in shape!

Book recommended: Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide: 50 Tips, Tricks, Hacks and Ways to Free Stuff & Cheaper Flights

Check also: 9 Excellent Books About Expatriation and Life Abroad.

3 — Avoiding long showers to help your skin (and pockets)

Water prices — not bottled water, but the water used for showering, flushing, and so on — in countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina are significantly lower than in Europe. Water will be far more expensive in middle-income nations such as Poland and Hungary than in Chile, for example.

In Poland, a 10-minute shower with 120 liters of water will cost 1.5 zlotys or 30 cents of euro at the current exchange rate. This is merely the cost of the water; it does not include the cost of heating or other charges. This price would be far higher in Germany, the United Kingdom, or France. The identical 10-minute shower in So Paulo, Brazil, will cost 29 cents of Real, or less than 5 cents of Euro. Showering once a day in Poland will cost you 108 euros, compared to 13 euros in Brazil.

We shower a lot in hot countries. However, I would not recommend continuing this practice in Europe. This will not only save you money, but it will also benefit your skin, because frequent and hot showers cause dry skin and hair, according to American Academy of Dermatology researchers.

Gas is expensive nowadays, but there are some extreme ways to reduce heating costs.

Check also: the ideal European locations to visit on each month.

4 — To have a better life in Europe, learn the language and use it to understand the ethos.

Learning the language of your new nation will open up a whole new world to you.

This is, unfortunately, something that many of those moving to Europe as an American ignore, and try to live the whole time only using English. This deprives them of so many incredible perspectives of life…

You’ll be able to say “Thanks” or “Please” when shopping at the grocery store or ordering at a café.

Better than that: you will also notice the nuances that shape people’s humor and behavior in their daily activities. Understanding local jokes and insults can give you a good notion of what is humorous and shocking in your new neighborhood.

Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist, confirmed in her studies that language shapes the way we think. As a result, learning the local language allows you to think like a local, increasing your chances of success (or at least survival) in your new nation. What could be a greater incentive than this? Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher, wrote:

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”.

An easy way that I found to learn new idioms is to frequent language exchange groups. Not only will you be able to speak with people in your new location and learn their idiom, but they will be delighted if you offer to teach them your language.

5 — The meaning of a smile varies according to the country

Smiling may appear to most of my people to be a minor gesture. Born in the Brazilian countryside, I learned early on that smiling at people on the street was not unusual. I’m not referring to Joker-style frightening laughter, but to those courteous demonstrations of goodwill that are accompanied by a nod. On a good day, we salute our neighbors, coworkers, and anybody who crosses our path.

The same was true for the first nation I lived in after leaving Brazil, Chile, as well as other countries I visited in the area, even relatively “European cities” like Buenos Aires.

However, I later moved to Poland.

On a certain day, as usual, I greeted one lady that worked with me. Cheers Dominika, everything fine?

She said yes and asked if I was fine too. I answered, “Everything great!”

Then she asked me: So, why are you smiling? Some good news?

After the surprise of hearing such a question, I said, “Oh, not really. But nothing bad happened either”

I’ve been paying closer attention to the facial expressions of individuals around me since that day. This led me to the conclusion that paying attention to physical and behavioral details is beneficial while adjusting to a new culture. — something that I wrote about in my book Moving Out, Working Abroad, and Keeping Your Sanity.

People in Poland do not smile unless they have a compelling reason to do so. A similar trait I saw in other Slavic nations I visited. To mention a few, Slovakia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Russia.

I’m not implying that Slavs are always pessimistic or gloomy. A happy young couple chatting during a walk or a father playing with his daughter are likely to chuckle or perhaps giggle. Outside of such occasions, though, their facial expression is serious.

People may misinterpret joyful expressions. Smiling during a formal talk may be interpreted as not taking it seriously. My wife’s grandmother once felt I didn’t believe her story because I had a smile on my face.

In other cases, folks may assume you’re a moron or have a psychiatric condition., as a Russian proverb says:

Smiling for no reason is a sign of stupidity.

Which side is correct? The slavs that need a reason to smile or the Latin-Americans that need a motive to not do so?

Likely both. That is why humor is one of the 4 dimensions of cultural shock.

How Easy Is It to Move to Europe

There are many reasons why people want to move to Europe. The economic situation in their home country may be bad, or they may want to experience a different culture. If you are thinking about moving to Europe, you should take some time to consider the benefits and drawbacks of this move.

The first thing that you must consider is your visa status and what type of visa you need for living in the country where you want to live. This will depend on how long you plan on staying and what type of work you do. You should also make sure that your employer can sponsor your visa so that if something goes wrong with your application, they have already agreed that they will help pay for any costs associated with getting a new visa or returning home if necessary.

Another thing that needs consideration is health care coverage while abroad. Most countries have health care coverage available for visitors, but it may not cover everything that is needed if an emergency arises while living there permanently. If possible, check out what kind of coverage each country offers before making

If you don’t have a job lined up yet, then try looking into work visas or permanent residency permits so that you can legally work in the country where you want to live (I wrote a special article on this subject, called the best countries to start a new life abroad with no money). Once this has been done, then it’s time for the fun part: packing up all your stuff and moving!

Conclusion: 5 Tips for Moving to Europe

1 — Darker tones of skin filter out more of the sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays and can cause a lack of Vitamin D during the European winter. A lack of Vitamin D can cause fatigue, muscle cramps, depression, and immune system problems. Take a supplement.

2 — Biking is an excellent model of transportation in Europe due to the mild climate during spring, summer and fall. Large European cities frequently provide bike-rental services.

3 — Avoid showering more than once a day, and take a colder shower. This will also benefit your skin, as frequent and hot showers cause dry skin and hair.

4 — To have a better life in Europe, try to learn the language and use it to understand the ethos. Understanding local jokes and insults can give you a good notion of what is humorous or not in your new neighborhood.

5 — Smiling during a formal talk may be interpreted as not taking it seriously. People may misinterpret joyful expressions as stupidity.

Do you have other tips for moving to Europe? Share with us in the comment section!

If you liked this article, check these selected for you:

The 10 Most Dangerous Cities in Europe in 2022

Shock! The Cost of Living in London vs Other European Capitals

If you wish to become a Medium member and have access to articles like this, check this link. It is only $5 per month and will support writers like me.

Levi Borba is the CEO of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. Subscribe to my articles (for free) and receive (also for free) the ebook “The Blueprint for First-Time Business Owners”.

Business in Europe

Shock! The Cost of Living in London vs European…

The Cost of Living in London vs The Cost of Living in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and Warsaw

During the last two years, there is a certain buzz about how Polish immigrants that lived for years in the UK are returning to Poland due to the increasing salaries and improving economy in their homeland (and the soaring feel of unsafety in London). That puzzled me: yes, the salaries here in Poland are increasing, but still, I bet they are far lower than London for the same jobs. I imagined that there is something else at play here: the cost of living in London when compared to other European capitals.

For this reason, I decided to spend hours researching how the prices in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, compare with the capitals of the five largest countries in the European Union: Germany (Berlin), France (Paris), Italy (Rome), Spain (Madrid) and Poland (Warsaw).

I came with the exact living cost that a single person needs to live in each of those European capitals (considerably different from the living costs in Brazil, the place where I came from).

To forecast living costs is, IMHO, among the 4 best tips for anyone moving out, and is essential for many plans, like retirement abroad (the best countries to retire abroad are here).

Here are the premises used for this comparison between London’s living costs and other European capitals:

Average Monthly Expenses for One Person

To make this objective, I wrote this article using the following guideline: What are the average monthly expenses for one person (a single, young professional living alone in a rented studio)?

Why did I use this specific pattern to write this article?

First, to make it straightforward.

Second, I guess this represents a large share of my readers.

Third, from the numbers written below, you can also guess the costs for a couple or a family by adding additional expenses like a nursery or education.

And Fourth, because for seven years of my life I was exactly this kind of person: a single, young professional expatriate.

Living Costs Considered

The living costs below consider the late 20s, early 30s person, living alone, eating 2400 kcal per day in a diversified diet, who enjoys eating out once per week and drinking some pints of beer every time he meets his friends, frequents a gym and has a haircut once per month.

In other words, I took my own expenditures as an example — except for the part of eating 2400 kcal per day, since my size requires way more than that.

Housing: rent of a 45 m2 furnished studio in a middle-class area.
Transport: monthly ticket for public transport
Utilities: 1 month of heating (to discover how to save money on heating, check here), energy, gas, Internet, etc, for 1 person
Supermarket: 2400 kcal per day with a diversified diet + cleaning products
Entertainment: eating out 5 times per month, 10 beers at a local pub, and 2 movie tickets
Gym: 1 Month of full membership
Health and Personal Care: 1 haircut and 1 visit to the dentist or private doctor.

The sources for the cost of living came mostly from two sites:

Numbeo for supermarket items. Numbeo is a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices. Currently, it 7,389,784 prices in 10,384 cities registered by 607,931 contributors. It is an enormous database with, in my experience, accurate numbers.
Expatistan for other expenses (except the listed below). As Numbeo, Expatistan is another tool for calculating the cost of living in cities around the world. Their database is composed of 3,374,000 prices in 1,764 cities recorded by 388,500 contributors

I also double-checked some prices at other sources: entertainment in Paris, restaurants in Paris, gyms in Berlim, Warsaw, Madrid, and the London monthly public transport ticket rates.

Reminder: Despite not all countries using the Euro as currency (UK and Poland have their own money), all the values below are converted to Euros.

Cost of Living In London

Housing (Rent of a 45 m2 furnished studio in a middle-class area): € 1,454.00

Transport (Monthly Ticket of Public Transport): € 168.00

Utilities (1 month of heating, energy, gas, Internet, etc, for 1 person): €112.00

Supermarket (2400 kcal per day with a diversified diet + cleaning products): € 248.08

Entertainment (eating out 5 times per month, 10 beers at a local pub, and 2 movie tickets): € 214.00

Gym (1 Month of Full Membership): € 48.00

Health and Personal Care (1 haircut, 1 visit to the dentist or private doctor): € 85.00

How much does it cost to live in London per month:

For a single person to live alone in London with a conventional lifestyle, he will spend € 2,329.08 per month.

Living Costs Berlin

Housing: € 728.00

Transport: € 78.00

Utilities: € 97.00

Supermarket: € 247.71

Entertainment: € 138.40

Gym: € 25.00

Health and Personal Care: € 50.00

How much money do you need to live in Berlin?

To live in Berlin without sharing an apartment, a young professional will spend € 1,364.11 per month between housing, transport, utilities, supermarket, entertainment, gym, and healthcare.

How the Cost of Living in Berlin Compares with The Cost of Living in London

The cost to live in Berlin is 41.4% smaller than in London.

Cost of Living in Paris

Housing: € 1,229.32

Transport: € 76.00

Utilities: € 109.00

Supermarket: € 274.57

Entertainment: € 213.60

Gym: € 33.00

Health and Personal Care: € 55.00

How much money do you need to live in Paris?

To live in Paris, renting a studio for one person, and considering all the other living costs, you will need € 1,990.49 per month. To enjoy some of the best things Paris offers, however, you will need a bit more.

Check also our article about the Cons and Pros of Life in France

Is London or Paris More Expensive?

London is 14.5% more expensive than Paris. This is the smallest difference among all the cities researched in this article, giving the French capital 2nd place among the most pricey European cities.

Cost of Living in Rome

Housing: € 663.00

Transport: € 35.00

Utilities: € 92.00

Supermarket: € 216.86

Entertainment: € 161.10

Gym: € 25.00

Health and Personal Care: € 62.00

How much money do you need to live in Rome?

To live in Rome as a single person and not sharing an apartment, you will need € 1,254.96 per month. You don’t necessairly need to live in expensive areas, since Rome is a safe place and most districts are ok to live. Also, as most of us know, it is one of the most beautiful European capitals.

How the Cost of Living in Rome Compares with The Cost of Living in London

The living costs in Rome, for a single young professional, are 46.1% lower than in London when you consider all the criteria above.

Cost of Living in Madrid

Housing: € 679.00

Transport: € 54.00

Utilities: € 87.00

Supermarket: € 215.57

Entertainment: € 138.10

Gym: € 35.90

Health and Personal Care: € 63.00

How much money do you need to live in Madrid?

To live in Madrid in a studio by yourself, and considering expenses with transport, utilities, groceries, entertainment, gym, and healthcare, you will need € 1,272.57 per month. The fact that Madrid is one of the safest European capitals helps to reduce costs since you don’t need to live in expensive zones to avoid violence.

How the Cost of Living in Madrid Compares with The Cost of Living in London

Madrid is 45.4% cheaper than London for a single person living alone. This is a result similar to Rome.

Cost of Living in Warsaw

Housing: € 518.00

Transport: € 24.00

Utilities: € 97.00

Supermarket: € 168.15

Entertainment: € 77.00

Gym: € 25.00

Health and Personal Care: € 43.00

How much money do you need to live in Warsaw?

Warsaw is the cheapest city on this list, and it comes as no surprise (despite it being much more expensive than other Polish cities). Considering all the expenses, you will need to live in Warsaw, per month, € 952.15. The Polish capital is the only European capital among the assessed where you can live with less than 1000 euros per month. Warsaw is also among the cheapest cities to take an Uber in Europe.

How Warsaw Compares with The Cost of Living in London

Warsaw is an impressive 59.1% cheaper than London.

Photo I took during a sunny day in Warsaw, Poland, a place with a fraction of the cost of living in London

Conclusion: the cost of living in London compared to Berlin, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Warsaw

Country	The UK	Germany	France	Italy	Spain	Poland
City	London	Berlin	Paris	Rome	Madrid	Warsaw
Housing (Rent of a 45 m2 furnished studio in a middle-class area)	€ 1,454.00	€ 728.00	€ 1,229.32	€ 663.00	€ 679.00	€ 518.00
Transport (Monthly Ticket of Public Transport)	€ 168.00	€ 78.00	€ 76.00	€ 35.00	€ 54.00	€ 24.00
Utilities (1 month of heating, energy, gas, Internet, etc, for 1 person)	€ 112.00	€ 97.00	€ 109.00	€ 92.00	€ 87.00	€ 97.00
Supermarket (2400 kcal per day with a diversified diet + cleaning products)	€ 248.08	€ 247.71	€ 274.57	€ 216.86	€ 215.57	€ 168.15
Entertainment (eating out 5 times per month, 10 beers at a local pub and 2 movie tickets)	€ 214.00	€ 138.40	€ 213.60	€ 161.10	€ 138.10	€ 77.00
Gym (1 Month of Full Membership)	€ 48.00	€ 25.00	€ 33.00	€ 25.00	€ 35.90	€ 25.00
Health and Personal Care (1 haircut, 1 visit to the dentist or private doctor)	€ 85.00	€ 50.00	€ 55.00	€ 62.00	€ 63.00	€ 43.00
Total (Expenses per Month)	€ 2,329.08	€ 1,364.11	€ 1,990.49	€ 1,254.96	€ 1,272.57	€ 952.15
Cost of Living vs London		-41.4%	-14.5%	-46.1%	-45.4%	-59.1%

The cost of living in London compared to Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), Rome (Italy), Madrid (Spain) and Warsaw (Poland)

The UK is so expensive that, despite having some of the best schools in the world, the costs forced it out of the list of the best countries to study in the world.

The results above pretty much explain the question I made myself days ago, which inspired me to write to ask why so many Poles are returning from the UK to Poland, despite the salaries in Great Britain still being higher than here? I remember some time ago.

The answer, in this case, became simple: because the living costs in the UK are far higher than in Poland. Not everything is inexpensive in Polish lands, however. Months ago, I wrote an article about 5 things insanely expensive in Poland

It is crucial to remember, however, that the whole planet is experiencing the largest inflation cycle of the last 40 years, therefore the amount of money that you need to live now certainly will change in the coming months.

If you wish to become a Medium member and have privileged access to articles like this, check this link. It is only $5 per month.

The Best Lessons I Learned about Moving Away from Home (After Doing It 14 Times).

Levi Borba is CEO of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel Small Business Hacks, and best-selling author. You can check his books here, his other articles here, or his Linkedin here.

Business in Europe

Norway Electric Cars

Why Does Norway Have So Many Electric Cars?

While researching for another article, I found some shocking information: There is a country in the world where 75% of all vehicles sold are electric. This country is Norway. But how Norway has so many electric cars?

All this is even more surprising when you consider that only 4.2% of all the vehicles sold on the planet are electric vehicles (EVs).

My first reaction after discovering this was to think about the reasons for the enormous success of EVs in Norway. Here are some of my guesses:

1st theory: Norway is a high-income country, therefore it is easier for people to buy the more expensive EVs.

The reason it is wrong: If that was the case, EVs would also be a success in similarly high-income countries like Switzerland or Ireland, but there they represent only 14.3% and 7.4% of the vehicles sold.

2nd theory: Norwegians have a high level of environmental awareness, therefore they prefer to spend more to reduce gas emissions.

The reason it is wrong: Let’s ignore the fact that not always EVs reduce gas emissions — if the energy matrix of a country is based on coal, EVs can even make it worse. This 2nd theory is wrong simply because Norway is far from the top in terms of environmental consciousness. The most eco-friendly countries in the world are Denmark (Copenhagen is an example of safe and green city), Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and the EV market share in these 3 are only 16.4%, 11.4%, and 14.3%.

3rd theory: Norwegian government has heavy subsidies for EVs, so people buy them because of these incentives.

The reason it is wrong: There are some incentives for electric vehicles in Norway, like reduced toll charges and parking fees. The Norwegian subsidies are, however, minor compared to what other European Union countries offer. In Germany, for example, buyers of electric vehicles costing less than 40,000 euros can apply for a premium of up to 9,000 euros. Still, only 13.5% of all the cars bought by Germans are EVs.

All my initial theories were wrong. Later, however, another piece of data revealed the answer.

Why Are Electric Cars So Popular In Norway?

The short answer: because Norwegians can do the math.

The long answer starts with a table. Below are the electricity prices in 29 different European countries.

Why are there so many electric cars in Norway? Cheap energy is one of the answers. Data source: Strom-Report

Norway has one of the lowest electricity rates in entire Europe, despite being the 3rd richest nation on the continent (below only Luxembourg and Switzerland, and excluding micro-states).

According to the UN, the per capita income of Romania is US$12,914. This is less than 20% of the Norwegian income (US$74,986). Even so, Romanians pay more for electricity than the average Norwegian resident.

Meanwhile, gas and diesel prices in Norway are comparable to other Scandinavian countries and higher than the European average.

Using a fuel cost calculator, we can check that, with similar cars, electric vehicles in Norway have a fuel cost per mile of 3.5 cents against 19.1 cents per mile of petrol cars.

Let’s put it into perspective with one hypothetical example:

You live in Norway and drive an average of 10 miles (16 kilometers) per day. You need to decide between an electric Nissan Leaf and a non-electric Nissan Juke.

With the Leaf, your annual fuel costs will be 128 euros.
Buying the Juke, your annual fuel costs will be 697 euros.

Which car would you buy? And that is why….

The percentage of electric cars in Norway is above 70%!

75% of the vehicles in Norway are electric because there, electricity is crazy cheap compared to petrol prices. In another article, I wrote about the rules to follow before buying a car. I think Norwegians follow them.

Electricity in Norway is cheap because they produce enormous volumes of energy at a low cost.

They produce so much energy that they export it to other European countries. Norway is the largest exporter of electricity in the European market, and Norwegian hydropower is a major contributor to that export.

It is a virtuous cycle that boosts Norway’s electric vehicle market share.

Tesla recharging. 75% of the cars in Norway are electric vehicles. — 75% of the cars in Norway are electric vehicles.

How Does Norway Produce Electricity?

Norway’s 22 hydroelectric plants produce about 96% of the country’s electricity Hydropower demands very specific geographic features as rivers with large terrain unevenness, therefore it cannot be used everywhere — it represents only 16% of the world’s electricity

Norway’s hydro plants, first developed in the late 19th century, use water falling from glaciers to produce electricity and were among the first in the world to harness that kind of power. The artificial lakes that makeup Norway’s hydroelectric reservoirs are some of the largest in the world.

The country is also looking to expand hydroelectric production, investing close to $200 billion in renewable energy projects, including $30 billion for hydropower expansion, making Norway one of the most energy-independent nations in the world.

This is the same strategy adopted by an African country on the road to be a powerhouse.

If you liked this article, maybe these are also for you:

The Most Beautiful European Capitals in 2023

4 Industries and Jobs That Will Disappear Due to Technology

Before Investing in Emerging Markets, You Should Have These Characteristics

If you wish to become a Medium member and have privileged access to articles like this, check this link. It is only $5 per month.

Levi Borba is CEO of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. You can check his books here, his other articles here, or his Linkedin here.

As an entrepreneur, the help I found on Fiverr and Freelancer.com was essential for a smooth beginning.

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Business in Europe

5 Unusual Fiverr Gigs – The Best Website to…

Lottery prizes are unplanned events. Starting a business is the opposite — you plan, research, and finance it. That takes time and effort. Something that can be solved if you check a certain website to hire freelancers, and here I will tell you how.

Besides these well-known phases of creating and running a company, there are dozens of minor tasks you need to complete, from registering your firm with state authorities to buying insurance.

It’s a lot to tackle for one person, but starting and running a business is often a solitary activity made by a single hero or his close group of brave co-founders.

Or at least it was like that until the rise of the gig economy and websites like Fiverr and Freelancer.

These websites — and other online marketplaces for freelance services — made it possible for entrepreneurs to hire talents anywhere in the world. Remote workers that can push new enterprise to a whole new level of performance and profitability.

You can hire a variety of specialists to help you with various aspects of starting a business, but it’s important to find someone who complements rather than duplicates your skillset. You don’t want someone doing all the marketing for you, for example, if you’re an expert at developing products.

Some well-known tasks became the realm of remote professionals from the gig economy. Things like:

There are hundreds of articles explaining how to find good professionals in these areas at Fiverr, including one with The 5 Top Fiverr Gigs for New Entrepreneurs and Creators.

In this article (which contains some affiliate links, meaning that I may earn a financial incentive if you decide to purchase any of the listed services), I will tell you about some specialists out of the radar. Still, they can make the difference between a successful and a stagnant business — for only a few dollars.

Use This Website to Hire Freelancers Outside of the Radar: Our top 5 list.

You can find some of the highest-paying jobs for digital nomads on Fiverr.

Infographic Designer

If you are a fan of pages like Visual Capitalist or Cool Infographics, you’ve noticed infographics.

They are graphic visual depictions of data. They help us make some of the most complex, important topics more digestible and memorable.

An infographic designer creates visual displays of data. They use graphic design to convey information in an interesting, eye-catching way.
Infographics help explain complex topics, inform and educate viewers, and promote your brand. It is much more than just pretty pictures. An infographic designer has the skills, creativity, and experience to create something that conveys your message with immense shareability — meaning viral posts.

For example, people create infographics to show their friends what their cats do in their sleep. Imagine how a cat-food company or a pet shop can use that to promote its brand with a highly shareable viral post.

Among these boring numbers in your excel sheets and market research docs is a gold mine for customer engagement — but to dilapidated it, you need a specialist.

At Fiverr, you can hire a good infographic designer with multiple good references for 10 dollars.

Virtual Assistant

In another article, I wrote about how hiring a virtual assistant helped me to save multiple hours during my week. Enough to write 3 books and become a top writer in 5 categories at Medium.How To Add Multiple Extra Hours to Your Week
Hiring a Virtual Assistant freed me enough time to write 3 books in a yearentrepreneurshandbook.co

A virtual assistant (VA) is a freelancer who performs administrative work for one or more clients. He/She can be anything from a social media guru to a writer. A VA can help your business for the three reasons below:
1. They save you money.
2. They save you time.
3. They free you up to grow your company.

Many entrepreneurs choose to hire a virtual assistant for the simple fact that the overhead costs are lower than hiring a full-time employee. In-house staff needs desks, computers, office space, and equipment. A VA can work from their home or anywhere with internet access, so their expenses are smaller.

In this website to hire freelancers working as virtual assistants with a solid reputation may cost as low as 15 dollars.

Website Reviewer

Hiring a Website Reviewer made my business website soar to the first page at Google in multiple keywords in a matter of months.How My Website Rose to Google First-Page Rank in only 10 Months
I am no WordPress Specialist, but spending less than $100, it happened!medium.com

A website reviewer is a service provider who evaluates and provides feedback and solutions to improve the performance of your site.

They conduct a comprehensive review and provide detailed feedback about design, content, logic, functionality, usability, and SEO.
It is a great step to produce a positive user experience. They can also help you find and fix technical errors, and suggest ways to make your website more effective.

They can also help you with Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and a variety of other online marketing strategies.

Reviewers can help you create a website content strategy that appeals to your target audience, improve your search engine ranking, your social media presence, and customer loyalty.

Lastly, they can also review your website for compliance with general best practices, industry standards, and government regulations.

At Fiverr website to hire freelancers to review your website can cost as low as 30 dollars.

Grant-Writing Services

Grants, often issued by governmental agencies or NGOs, can be a significant source of funding for many projects. The application process, however, is daunting, and there’s a steep learning curve involved.

This is a problem that can be solved by a grant-writing expert.

Here are 5 reasons why a grant writing service can help you:

They have access to the right information. Sometimes it can be found online, but sometimes it is hidden under hundreds of government documents.
They often have the connections you need to get your application approved.
Writing an application is not easy. You have to provide all of the information that a potential grantor is looking for. A grant writing service can help you create a persuasive application.
They ensure you submit on time. Deadlines are stressful.
They avoid costly mistakes — the type of error that can make your entire application go to the garbage bin.

Grant writing isn’t for everyone. It requires research, organizational skills, and a lot of time. It requires you to hire top freelancers.

At Fiverr, you can purchase well-evaluated grant-writing services for 25 dollars.

Chatbot Programmer

A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users. Chatbots can operate as an easy interface to websites, and can also operate across various messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger, Slack, Skype, and Google Hangouts, to name a few.

They are starting to take over customer service, and one of the most important benefits is their help to provide faster customer service.

Fast and personalized customer service is no longer just a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have for many businesses. Today, 79% of customers say it’s very important for businesses to contact them via their preferred channel. Further, 55% of customers say they’re willing to pay more for faster service.

Businesses are using chatbots for a variety of customer service tasks, including helping with customer orders, answering questions, and giving information about products.

Chatbots are more than just a customer service tool: they can turn customer service into revenue.

They can help customers quickly find the information they need on your website or messaging platforms, and they can save time for your employees by automating repetitive tasks.

Chatbots can also boost your sales by simplifying the checkout process. Rather than asking for a name and shipping address, customers can interact with a chatbot, which asks them only for their payment and delivery information. When a customer’s credit card is charged, a chatbot can send them a receipt and provide them with the tracking number for their package.

In that website to hire freelancers to program chatbots may cost only 30 dollars — for a simple chatbot.

What are other out-of-radar professionals that your business hired?

If you are an entrepreneur or is planning to start a business, here are some other articles that may be useful to you:

5 Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read This Year

The 7 Best Business Channels on YouTube in 2021

How to Rank Website on Google First Page

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If you wish to become a Medium member and have access to articles like this, check this link. It is only $5 per month. It will support multiple writers, including me.

Brazil

Before Investing in Emerging Markets, You Should Have These…

The definition of developing economy hide some crucial elements.

Often, great opportunities hide behind dreadful risks. Anyone investing in emerging markets knows that. Risks are of a different magnitude in developing markets when compared to stable locations like Western Europe or the USA.

This is not bad at all. The definition of risk is the chance that an outcome or investment’s actual gains will differ from an expected outcome or return. Therefore, as much as it can cause losses above expectations, it can become profits above measure.

To catch the upper side of the risk tail, however, there are some features that both entrepreneurs and investors should have when venturing into emerging economies. Here, we consider emergent as a developing nation engaged with global markets showing characteristics from both developed and non-developed economies. As Investopedia puts:

Emerging market economies typically feature a unified currency, stock market, and backing system, and are in the process of industrializing.

Emerging market economies can offer greater returns to investors due to rapid growth, but also offer greater exposure to some inherent risks due to their status.

All the countries where I lived, worked, and started business in my life are emerging economies, although in different parts of the world — South America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. I also used my personal observations of non-mainstream emerging countries like Paraguay, Ethiopia, and Botswana.

Considering all this information, here are 3 essential things needed before investing in emerging markets.

Definition of Developing Economy

A developing economy, also known as an emerging market, means a country with a generally significant degree of financial development and security. Standard rules for assessing a nation’s degree of advancement are income per capita, the degree of industrialization, the overall way of life, and the economical matrix.

Noneconomic factors, for example, the human development index (HDI), which measures a nation’s degrees of income, education, and health into a single indicator, can likewise be utilized to assess the development level of a country. There are also some common characteristics among developing economies, like regional inequality, an element that is very present in places like Russia or South Africa.

Examples of developing economies: Turkey, Brazil, Russia, China, etc.

Survival Skills Under Tax Terrorism

Tax disputes are as Brazilian as string bikinis or samba. The Economist

When I tell my European friends that in Brazil, it is common local branches with larger legal units than their European headquarters; they ask me if this is not a waste of resources.

It is not, because Brazil and other emerging nations like India or — on a minor scale — Poland, live under a regime of tax terrorism.

In the same way that firms in war zones like Iraq or Sudan must invest extra resources in security, firms in countries like Brazil or India need to protect themselves against the vast government’s hunger for money.

Since I opened my first business in Poland, I couldn’t stop seeing similarities with the Brazilian complex, dubious, and expensive tax regime.

In Poland, inheritance of practices from the communist era explains this — the monetary surveillance apparatus and the need to take resources from private to public hands. Curiously, Brazil has a post-communist tax system without never being communist itself.

Complicated fiscal controls are almost a rule in these markets. In the Tax complexity index compiled by the Paderborn University and LMU Munich, of the 7 most complex systems, 6 are in emerging economies — the other is Italy. There are, however, emerging countries with simple taxes and low bureaucracy: Georgia, or Macedonia, for example.

Three points to expect from tax laws when you are investing in emerging markets are:

They are constantly changing and you must be up to date. Excuses like “I was not aware of the recent changes” are rejected in court.
They are dubious, paving the way to free interpretation by government officials and to corruption.
The universal principle of in dubio pro reo(meaning that you are innocent until proven guilty) is regularly ignored. There are situations where the entrepreneur must prove his innocence, that he paid his taxes, etc. This results in an enormous amount of registries, archives, and bureaucracy.

Middle-Class Focus: Affordability with (some) quality

Researchers often separate the middle from the lower classes by income. This may lead to wrong assumptions if you do not consider local prices or economic changes.

I prefer another definition: what differs them is their ability to spend larger portions of income on items other than food. Things like household durables, holidays, and leisure.

Therefore, a growing middle class results in an explosive demand for non-basic items like cars, electronics, digital services, food delivery, etc.

This demand has a singular characteristic in emerging markets: anchored prices. The rising middle class will often expect items of superior qualities but for prices anchored by their previous, lower-income.

The immense market of 1.0 engine cars in Brazil is an example of how the automotive industry adapted an item (cars) for the purchasing power of the local middle class. Many of the vehicles sold in Brazil, like the Volkswagen Gol, were domestically developed, stripping out accessories to reduce the price and increase affordability while keeping a modern, pleasant design. The Gol was the best-selling car in Brazil for 27 consecutive years, from 1987 to 2014. Later it went to other emerging markets like Argentina, where it also turned into a best-seller.

The skyrocketing increase in the middle-class size in India, Brazil, China, or Indonesia includes almost two billion people, spending nearly $7 trillion per year. A figure that can reach $20 trillion during the next decade and be akin to the growth experienced by Post-War Europe, as explained by David Court and Laxman Narasimhan for McKinsey Quarterly:

These new spenders offer an opportunity for early winners to gain lasting advantages, just as companies in Europe and the United States did at similar points in their development. In 17 product categories in the United States, for example, we found that the market leader in 1925 remained the number-one or number-two player for the rest of the century. These companies include Kraft Foods (Nabisco), which led in biscuits; Del Monte Foods, in canned fruit; and Wrigley, in chewing gum.

Awareness of the Transitional Nature of Investing in Emerging Markets

I will not state the obvious fact that emerging economies are volatile. Even kids building sandcastles know that.

Emerging markets have a feature that is confused with volatility: the fickle nature of their economies.

If volatility is the daily temperature change, the transitional nature is the seasonal fluctuations. But here, we don’t know when winter finishes or summer starts.

Nothing defines better this concept than 2 covers from The Economist:

In 2009, the British magazine had an image of the Christ Redeemer (the most well-known Brazilian landmark) taking off under the title Brazil takes off. The main article had an optimistic tone about the South-American country and excellent projections.
In 2012, the same magazine had a similar cover, but this time the Christ Redeemer was falling, under the title Has Brazil blown it?. The main article had a pessimistic tone and gloomy forecasts for the Brazilian economy.

Less than 4 years separated both covers. Less than 4 years between wonderful perspectives and a dark future. The same happened with Turkey, which less than 10 years ago was considered a Breakout Nation by fund managers like Ruchir Sharma, and now is far from attractive for most investors.

These changes are not to be considered volatility because they are part of a longer trend, not daily or weekly fluctuations.

The conversion from a closed to an open market economy also affects the nature of emerging markets. To accomplish this, they try to promote international trade and focus on industry or services. Sometimes reducing their protective tariffs to diversify their exports and imports. Sometimes reducing restrictions on creating and operating businesses within their own country.

When these changes generate the desired results for society and governments, these emerging economies keep climbing the ladder. But when they fail, revolutions, armed coups or impeachments come to the surface.

Conclusion About Investing in Emerging Markets

Venturing in emerging markets is not the same as starting a business in Western Europe, it has its own risks and opportunities (especially when you consider the complicated moment of mature markets like the USA).

There are three characteristics that an investor or entrepreneur should have before investing in emerging markets:

Survival skills under tax-terrorism, because of government changes and economical downturns resulting in complicated, dubious, and unstable fiscal laws.
Middle-class focus, looking for affordability with decent quality. The growing middle class in emerging countries has free income to spend on goods other than food. They desire quality with affordability, since lower salaries may still anchor their price perception.
Awareness of the transitional nature of emerging economies. Everyone knows that emerging markets are volatile, but they are also transient. That means entire trends going upside down in a matter of a few years, and a promising, exciting nation becoming a collapsed society — and vice versa.

If you are an entrepreneur (or is planning to become one), I bet these two posts below may be helpful:

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