Singapore has been named the best destination for expats to live in for the fourth year in a row by HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey.
The survey, which was based on interviews with 22,318 expatriates in 163 countries worldwide, revealed that Singapore scored well across a broad range of measures.
The Asian city was ranked in third place in the economics category, fifth for family and sixth for overall experience, which includes culture, safety and healthcare.
The survey found that 45 per cent of Singapore-based expats cited career progression as their reason for moving to the city, while 38 per cent wanted to improve earnings and 36 per cent to improve quality of life.
“Singapore packs everything a budding expat could want into one of the world’s smallest territories,” the HSBC Expat Explorer survey noted.
New Zealand was ranked as the second most popular location. The country is very much seen as a lifestyle destination, with 60 per cent of expats moving there in a bid to improve their quality of life, and well over half of respondents stating that they had become much more physically active since making the move.
Germany was third, with expats appreciating the fact that the average working week in the country is among the shortest in the world (averaging 24 hours a week). In spite of that, average salaries in Germany are among the highest in the EU (although lower than those typically found in popular Middle East or Asian countries).
Canada, found to be one of the friendliest destinations in the world, followed by economic powerhouse Bahrain rounded out the top five.
Bahrain was the only one of the top five destinations from last year that wasn’t in the same position this year. It rose four places to take Australia’s place in the top five. Australia fell a place to sixth.
Article published 12th October 2018