GoinGlobal

October 17, 2018
By Alex Butler

Backpacking around the world is great, but sometimes even the most avid travellers want to put down roots in a new country. For anyone looking to live and work abroad, these are some of the top destinations to consider, according to the latest HSBC Expat Explorer survey. In the 11th year of its survey, 22,000 people living abroad were asked about their new life – and these are the top five destinations that ranked highest on factors like quality of life, culture, cost of living, and more.

Singapore

Singapore is once again on top of the report, ranking third for economics, fifth for families and sixth for experience. Those surveyed said their earnings increased by moving there – but as working five-and-a-half days a week is common, just under a third said their work-life balance was worse than at home. But, it’s a good place to meet locals, as 95% said they considered locals part of their social circle and 69% said they settled in in under a year.

New Zealand

Beautiful New Zealand takes second place for the unsurprising reason that people love living there. About a third of people who have moved abroad say they did so to improve their quality of life, but in New Zealand that number is 60%. With its mountains, oceans and forests, 56% also said they became more physically active there.

Germany  

If you want to improve your work-life balance, it may be time to consider Germany. It has the lowest average working hours around the world at 26 hours a week, according to HSBC, meaning 71% of people say they have found a better balance there.

Canada

Canada is aiming to attract nearly one million people to come live and work in the country by 2020 – so expect to find a warm welcome even in the wintertime. Residents say becoming a part of the community is easy – 70% say they’ve integrated well with the people and culture and 51% spend most of their time with locals. It was also rated by 68% as the most welcoming country in the world regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or faith.

Bahrain

While the top four countries didn’t change their ranking from last year, Bahrain jumped up four places in this year’s ranking. According to HSBC, Bahrain “has even overtaken financial services hub Hong Kong as its economy expands into banking, heavy industries, retail and tourism to come fifth in the economics table”.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2018/10/17/expat-explorer-survey-2018/