Yemen

Profiled in Sanaa · the Middle East

1fit /10

A land of tower-house cities and the dragon's blood trees of Socotra, with an old city that is among the world's architectural wonders, divided by a decade of war.

CapitalSanaa
LanguageArabic
CurrencyYemeni rial (YER)
Population34.4M

Cost of living

What a month costs

$600Comfortable single
$1,400Family of four
$3001-bed, central
$4Casual meal

Two competing central banks and a collapsed currency make pricing unreliable. Fuel and food scarcity define daily life in much of the country.

The scores

How it rates for a moving family

Safety1
Infrastructure1
English3
Kids’ schools2
Integration4
Healthcare1
Residency path2
Tax5
Climate6

See and do

Top 10 in Sanaa

  1. Old City of SanaaUNESCO-listed tower houses with gypsum tracery, inhabited for millennia.
  2. ShibamSixteenth-century mud-brick high-rise city, a UNESCO site.
  3. Socotra ArchipelagoUNESCO natural site where a third of plants are endemic.
  4. Dar al-HajarRock Palace on a sandstone pillar in Wadi Dhahr.
  5. ZabidHistoric Red Sea town and former centre of Islamic learning.
  6. Great Mosque of SanaaOne of the oldest mosques in the world.
  7. Aden CraterVolcanic caldera holding the old port town.
  8. Cisterns of TawilaAncient water system in Aden.

Where to go

Weekend escapes

  1. SocotraIndian Ocean island with dragon's blood trees and endemic flora.
  2. ShibamThe Manhattan of the Desert, mud-brick towers in Hadhramaut.
  3. AdenSouthern port in a volcanic crater.
  4. Wadi DawanCliff-side villages in the Hadhramaut valley.
  5. Al MahwitTerraced mountain villages west of Sanaa.

Residency

There is no functioning residence or investor route. Conflict, a divided administration and sanctions make relocation impossible for ordinary purposes.

Tax

Nominal personal rates reach 15% and the corporate rate is 20%, with a 5% sales tax. Oil and gas are taxed under separate agreements. Administration is minimal.

Curious what you would actually pay? See the Yemen tax profile: income, corporate, VAT and exit rules →

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