Study reveals the world city Kiwis most want to move to, in dream cities online searches

Is this the city most Kiwis want to live in?

A study of the cities people would like to move to has revealed Dubai is the metropolis that ranks highest. The emirate is the number one place in the search bars for an astounding 60 countries, including the US, UK and Australia.

New Zealanders, however, are looking closer to home.

Using the past 12 months of Google search data for the search term “moving to” the money-transfer website Remitly has identified the cities top of mind for those looking to relocate.

Creating a map from the search in 164 countries the study offers a remarkable insight into where the rest of the world would rather be.

Second to Dubai — where roughly 95 per cent of the population were not born in the emirate — was another cosmopolitan melting pot.

Miami was the second most popular search, appearing top in 20 countries. The Florida city was the top port of call for people looking to relocate from South America and former Soviets of Central Asia, from Khazakstan to Tajikistan.

Paris was third. The French capital was particularly popular in Francophone west Africa, which still holds a candle for the City of Light.

The top city most New Zealanders were looking to move to was Brisbane. Aotearoa was alone in wanting to move to the Queensland capital.

Christchurch, New Zealand appeared at the top in the searches from two other countries — Samoa and the Cook Islands.

There are many reasons why people look to relocate, including employment prospects, better climate or cultural links.

Remitly said the data showed fascinating insights into flows of people and the places most in the minds (and search results) of would-be migrants.

“Over the last three decades, there’s been a continued increase in international migration,” Remitly said, adding in the past 30 years the number of people not living in their birth country had doubled from 153 million to 281 million - about 4 per cent of the global population.

In the Pacific, five countries – Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu — were fascinated with a move to Dubai. However, many island countries were looking for more modest moves — including New Zealand. The US Marshall Islands, however, were more drawn to the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip.

Providing detailed maps of other regions’ migration, Brussels was a top pick for many central European countries.

Within the US, the West Coast states were most interested in going to Portland, and people south of the Dixie line had New York as their top choice. Chicago was a clear favourite in the central states.

Business management director for the website, Jago McKenzie, said the findings were fascinating.

“Dubai was a clear winner in our study, and with the plethora of employment prospects and lifestyle benefits it can offer, coupled with the fantastic weather, it’s not hard to see why.

Although the international cities of Paris, New York and London appeared on the list, McKenzie was delighted to see some more surprising cities like Toronto and Vienna being recognised for their quality of life and top job prospects.