This Country Was Just Named the Best Place for Expats for the 4th Year in a Row
Singapore has been named the world’s best country for expats for the fourth year in a row.
The results are based on HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer survey, a global survey completed by 22,318 expats across 163 different countries.
Expats were asked to rate countries based on three different categories: economics, experience, and family.
Singapore came in first overall, scoring high on its economic offerings. According to the survey, close to half (47 percent) of respondents said they moved to Singapore to progress their career, with expats in Singapore earning an average income of $162,000. This income is $56,000 more than the global average, according to HSBC.
While salaries earned are higher, Singapore is also one of the world's most expensive places to live.
Despite this, Singapore also ranked high thanks to its wellbeing and education offerings for children. A total of 60 percent of participants said they found their children’s health and wellbeing improved since moving to Singapore, with three quarters of family respondents saying their child’s life has also improved overall since the move.
New Zealand came in at second place, earning the highest ranking in the experience category thanks to its wide array of outdoor activities.
Related: How to Get the Most Adventure out of the Adventure Capital of the World
Germany came in at third place, scoring the second highest rating in economics, followed by Canada and Bahrain in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Of the 31 countries listed on HSBC’s leaderboard (countries that had at least 100 expat respondents and scored highest on each category) about a third hailed from Asia.
The U.S. ranked in 23rd place, dropping down three places since 2017. While the U.S. offers almost $80,000 more than the average expat salary, long hours spent at work and difficulty forming social circles were some of the factors that lowered the country’s ranking.
