Expats Love Turkey, Asia, and Switzerland – HSBC Survey

Tom Burroughes
Group Editor
31 October 2013

Half of the most popular destinations for expatriate citizens living abroad are in Asia when ranked for quality of life, ease of setting up and integrating with local society, according to an HSBC survey.

Thailand ranks first, with China , Singapore , India and Taiwan making up third, sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively, according to the sixth HSBC Expat Explorer report covering 7,000 expats from almost 100 nations.

The other five nations in this ranking are Bahrain , Cayman Islands, Australia , Spain and Brazil , the HSBC report showed.

Other parts of the HSBC research shed light on where expats value the most desirable economies in which to work and the most attractive destinations in which to educate children – vital issues when making the big decision to move abroad. The data may be valuable for wealth managers seeking to calculate desirable places to establish booking centres for new business, for example.

The survey revealed that expats across Asia were more likely to enjoy a better social life. More than a third (35 per cent) of expats based in the region say they agree they have a more active social life since relocating, compared with the global average of only 26 per cent, it said.

Switzerland, China and Qatar , meanwhile, rank highly on the “expat economics” test, which ranks factors such as earning potential, disposable income and satisfactions with economic outlook. Expats in these destinations are more likely to notice an improvement in their financial status upon moving as well as being satisfied with the present state of the economy in their host country, the report said.

Others on the top-ten for “expat economics” are Thailand , Cayman Islands, Indonesia , Germany , Oman , Singapore and Turkey .

For expat parents, European destinations have been ranked as attractive locations to bring up children abroad. Four European countries rank within the top 10 places for the Expat Explorer Raising Children Abroad league table, including Germany (1st), France (3rd), Belgium (6th) and Spain (9th). Germany , France and Spain in particular, offer expat parents a desirable mix of cost-efficient and high quality childcare.

The top three professions for expats are education, banking, insurance and financial services, construction, manufacturing and utilities.