Singapore takes the top spot in the eighth Expat Explorer country league table, with expatriates praising the opportunities for career development, appealing salaries and an excellent quality of life.

 

Over a quarter (28%) of expats in Singapore earn more than $200,000 per annum compared to 13% of expats globally. Fifty-nine per cent say the city-state is a place for career development and 79% are confident about the Singapore economy. Overall, 67% of expats say Singapore offers a better quality of life than their home country and 65% of parents say their children’s health and wellbeing has improved since moving there.

The Expat Explorer survey is commissioned by HSBC Expat and conducted by YouGov. Now in its eighth year, it is the largest and one of the longest running surveys of expats, with 21,950 respondents sharing their views on different aspects of life abroad including careers, financial wellbeing, quality of life and ease of settling for partners and children. A total of 39 countries qualified for the league tables in this edition.

Switzerland was top in the economics league table — but it dropped to 10th place in the overall positions when the percentage scores in all three categories were taken into account, due to its placing at 26th and 25th for experience and family, respectively.

New Zealand ranked highest for experience (and came second overall); and Sweden topped the poll for family life (coming third overall).

Expats today look beyond just financial rewards

A better quality of life and the desire to take on a new challenge are the main reasons for making a move abroad. In both cases, 37% of expats say these are the reasons why they moved, compared to just over a quarter (26%) who say they did so to improve their job prospects. In fact, 61% of expats haven’t benefited from an immediate salary increase since moving.

Expats are dedicated to experiencing as much as possible during their time abroad and only 11% say they haven’t immersed themselves into their new culture. Destinations where expats are the most likely to have moved to improve their quality of life are New Zealand (71%), Spain (61%) and Portugal (56%).

Expat entrepreneurs blossom in the world’s financial hubs

The vast majority of expats living in the world’s financial hubs of Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong or London agree they are good places to start a new business (87%, 86%, 85% and 85% respectively). This is much higher than the global average of 56% .

A high level of confidence in the local economy is another reason why these economic hubs suit the entrepreneurial spirit: 78% of expats in Singapore and 60% in Hong Kong feel confident about the local economy. The opportunity to broaden their skillset is a further upside for expat entrepreneurs who have settled in one of these cities: 64% of expats in London have acquired new skills since moving, compared to 43% globally.

HSBC says most generous expat packages are found in the Middle East Besides high salaries and strong economic prospects, expats living in the Middle East can also enjoy unrivalled benefits packages. Health and medical allowances (70% of expats in the region benefit from these), annual trips home and airfare allowances (67%), and accommodation allowances (60%) are all far more likely to be offered as part of expat contracts in the region than in any other part of the world.

Singapore, New Zealand, Sweden, Ireland, expat location 2015

Overall ranking (+ position in Economics – Experience – Family)

  1. Singapore  (2 – 3 – 3)
  2. New Zealand  (16 – 1 – 2)
  3. Sweden  (6 – 15 – 1)
  4. Bahrain  (8 – 7 – 6)
  5. Germany  (3 – 12 – 5)
  6. Canada  (11 – 6 – 8)
  7. Australia  (15 – 4 – 12)
  8. Taiwan  (18 – 5 – 15)
  9. United Arab Emirates (4 – 18 – 16)
  10. Switzerland (1 – 26 – 25)
  11. Hong Kong (10 – 11 –20)
  12. Netherlands (14 – 29 – 7)
  13. Spain (36 – 2 – 4)
  14. Oman (9– 10 – 27)
  15. Russia (23 – 16 – 11)
  16. United States (13 – 23 – 19)
  17. India (17– 30 – 10)
  18. Czech Republic (20 – 20 – 17)
  19. Mexico (26 – 9 – 18)
  20. Malaysia (25 – 17 – 23)
  21. Thailand (30 – 8 – 14)
  22. Qatar (5 – 34 – 34)
  23. United Kingdom (19 – 24 – 28)
  24. Japan (27 – 13 – 24)
  25. Vietnam (21 – 22 – 31)
  26. Saudi Arabia (7 – 35 – 36)
  27. China (12 – 36 – 30)
  28. Philippines (31 – 27 – 9)
  29. France (32 – 14 – 13)
  30. Belgium (24 – 33 – 22)
  31. Ireland (29 – 28 – 26)
  32. South Africa (34 – 25 – 21)
  33. Indonesia (28 – 32 – 33)
  34. Kuwait (22 – 39 – 39)
  35. Argentina (38 – 31 – 29)
  36. Turkey (35 – 21 – 38)
  37. Egypt (33 – 38 – 35)
  38. Italy (39 – 19 – 32)
  39. Brazil (37 – 37 – 37)

Pic above: New Zealand Tourism says — "At the very top of the South Island, explore the beautiful beaches, impressive rock formations and cheeky wildlife of glittering Abel Tasman National Park."