HSBC survey reveals best expat locations
HSBC Bank International Limited today revealed
that Singapore, the UAE and the US are the best locations to be an
expat, according to findings of its Expat Explorer survey, the largest
international survey of expats ever conducted. Expat Existence, the first
report in The Expat Explorer Series, ranked the top rated places to
live based on expats' living standards, an expat's ability to earn and
save, a country's popularity (longevity), and the level of luxury
experienced. The Expat Explorer Survey questioned 2,155
expatriates across four continents, examining the opportunities,
challenges and difficulties that come with a life away from home. This
included how easy expats found it to integrate, how they viewed the
changes in their lifestyle, and their children's experiences in a new
country. Paul Say, Head of Marketing and Communications
at HSBC Bank International, said: "The global expat community is vast
and living in foreign countries means expats don't often have the normal
outlets to express their viewpoints. This survey has allowed us to
delve into the lives of these expats on an unprecedented scale and
reveal some fascinating trends into how life differs from country to
country." The UK (14th) and France (13th)
were some of the lowest rated expat destinations in the survey, scoring
low on their levels of luxury and accommodation. Spain and China also
rated poorly, ranking 12th and 11th respectively. Australia featured 10th in the survey, scoring highly on levels of luxury, ability to earn and save and accommodation, but scoring lowly for longevity. Earn and Save Accommodation Longevity Luxury Across the 11 categories of perceived luxuries,
on average expats reported an increase in eight of these factors, with
employing staff ranked as the highest increase. The UAE was the most
luxurious destination, with expats enjoying increases in 10 of the 11
categories, followed by Singapore and India. The UK was ranked the least
luxurious with decreases recorded in nine of the 11 luxuries. "The Expat community is highly important to a
number of different economies throughout the world and getting this kind
of insight into their everyday lives is helping to shed more light on a
highly diverse and far reaching range of individuals," said Mr Say. "Overall, the Expat Explorer survey will deliver
some unique insights into a range of facets of Expat life, with our
next report looking at the subject of offspring and some of the issues
Mums and Dads face as parents of expat children. Our third report,
centred around Integration, will then focus on some of the challenges
faced by expats as they move from place to place."
Hong Kong-based expats have the highest salaries in the world, with
almost half (49%) earning more than £100,000 p.a., with the highest
paying professions in finance and management. Despite the current
economic climate, expats spend more whilst still being able to save.
More than half (52%) of expats spend more on food, 49% more on shopping
and 45% more on socialising in their new country of residence and 58%
also invest and save more in their resident country. Top countries for
saving included India, the UAE and Singapore.
Almost three quarters (74%) of expats living in Singapore said the
quality of their accommodation had improved since moving away from home,
the highest amount recorded in the study. This was followed by expats
living in the United States (61%) and Belgium (59%). The UK was
identified as the most expensive expat location for accommodation, with
more than three quarters (85%) of expats living in the UK revealing that
their living costs had increased. Only one-fifth (19%) of respondents
living in the UK stated that the quality of their accommodation had
increased. India was the cheapest country, with only one-fifth (21%) of
expats living in the country claiming that their costs of accommodation
had increased.
Europe is a popular destination overall for its longevity - more than
three quarters (82%) of expats now living in the Netherlands have been
there for three or more years, followed by Germany (77%) and Spain
(76%). Ireland and New Zealand have the greatest percentage of global
travellers, with more than three quarters (80%) of respondents
originally from both countries stating that they had been away from home
for longer than three years.
The report also investigates whether expats' lifestyles are more
luxurious than the lives they left behind and how long people are
choosing to stay living away from home. Countries were rated on a number
of categories including access to private healthcare, access to more
than one property, ability to own a pool and to employ staff (such as
cleaners).
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Top ranked countries
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Rank
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Accommodation
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Earn & Save |
Longevity
|
Luxury
|
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1
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Singapore
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India
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Netherlands
|
UAE
|
|
2
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US
|
Hong Kong |
Germany
|
Singapore
|
|
3
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Belgium
|
Singapore
|
US
|
India
|
To see more of the findings and the full league table of the first report in the Expat Explorer series, please visit www.offshore.hsbc.com/expatsurvey About the survey The survey questioned 2,155 expatriates
living in over 49 countries, however, only countries with at least 30
respondents were analysed in the league tables. Due to this small sample
number, it was decided that countries with less than 30 responses was
not statistically sufficient for detailed analysis in the league tables. The league table consists of 15 countries
and was formed based on the level of percentage changes across the
different judging criteria and this was then scored accordingly. For
example, Spain noted increases in 9 out of the 11 different luxuries,
however when actual individual percentage changes were taken into
account in each factor, Spain ranked 8th due to smaller percentage
changes. The overall score for each country was based on taking the
average of scores across the four categories (accommodation, earn and
save, longevity and luxury). Source : http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/newsroom/news/news-archive-2008/hsbc-survey-reveals-best-expat-locations
The Expat Explorer survey was conducted by independent
research companies - data capturing was undertaken by Virtual Surveys
between the months of February - April 2008, with data analysis
conducted by Freshminds. The survey looked at a range of topics relevant
to expats' lives including living standards, an expat's ability to earn
and save, a country's popularity and the level of luxury experienced.
