The best place to live in the world as an expat is Singapore
For the fourth year in a row, the best country to live and work as an expat is Singapore.
That’s according to the world’s most comprehensive study of its kind, the HSBC Expat Explorer report. It surveyed over 22,318 expats, defined as those who are based abroad on professional corporate assignment, from 163 countries.
Expats were asked to score their countries of residence across a number of categories, including economic, health, and family factors.
Singapore performed highly across all categories. Those who move there see their earnings increase by 29% to almost $162,000 ($56,000 more than the global average) and almost half of all expats in Singapore moved to progress their careers.
Singapore is also seen as more than just a haven for careers and earnings—while more than a quarter of Singapore expats may have originally been sent by their employer, 47% say they have stayed in this safe, well-organised city for great quality of life.
“Singapore is considered the best country or territory in the world for education, including among non-native children,” said HSBC in the report.
“Expats families here can rest easy knowing their move has done great things for their family’s present and future. All Singaporeans and expats alike live in urban areas but that doesn’t mean their health or wellbeing suffers. In fact, 60% of expat parents in Singapore say their children’s health and wellbeing is better here than at home.”
The only area where Singapore scored poorly was work-life balance—29% say their work-life balance is worse in Singapore than it was at home.
Other countries that made the top 10 include New Zealand for quality of life and Germany for it’s opportunity for earnings.