LONDON, November 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Key findings
- Employment prospects keep expats in the UK - Largest global survey of expats ranks UK lifestyle 23rd out of 26th countries - Canada is the best place to live as an expat for overall lifestyle - Established markets outperform emerging markets - Expats generally lead a better life than non-expats
HSBC Bank International today revealed the findings of the world's largest survey of expats, Expat Explorer.
Expat Experience, the second report in the Expat Explorer research, showed that expats in Canada have the best quality of life and found it among the easiest places in the world to integrate with the local population. Australia and Thailand also ranked in the top three countries, when life as an expat was compared with life in their home country.
Interestingly, a number of countries in emerging markets scored poorly, with Russia and India propping up the bottom of the league table.
Commenting on this, Betony Taylor, Corporate Communications Manager for HSBC Bank International, said that the second report revealed fascinating insights into expats' priorities, particularly when financial gain is taken out of the equation.
We have seen that there is a distinct trade-off between income and overall quality of life, as many of the top performers in our first report, which examined the best places to make and save money, have scored towards the bottom of this report's league table.
What is clear is that the locations where salaries may not be as high, such as Canada and Australia, are where expats are really enjoying not only an increased quality of life but are also finding it easy to fit in to their new communities.
UK continues to perform poorly but holds the entertainment crown
As it did in 2008, our research revealed that the UK was one of the lowest ranked locations when it comes to expat lifestyle. Two-fifths (41%) of expats in the UK find it difficult to find somewhere to live, compared to a 28% average across all regions surveyed. Less than one-fifth (16%) of expats in the UK found that the quality of their accommodation had increased since moving, compared to the majority (58%) noticing a decrease in quality.
Around a third (31%) of expats living in the UK claimed that their health has deteriorated since moving there. One factor that could have contributed to this is the commute to work - over half (53%) of UK-based expats claim that this has become worse.
Despite this, the UK does hold the crown for being expat entertainment capital of the world, with over half (58%) of expats in the UK saying that the quality of entertainment had increased. 62% of expats also said that employment prospects were the main reason keeping them in the region.
Get involved
Are you an expat? Follow the updates and join the debate online:
Tweet at: http://twitter.com/expatexplorer
Share your experiences: http://expatexplorer.blogspot.com/
Read the report in full: http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/expatexplorer
Media enquiries to: Betony Taylor Head of Corporate Communications HSBC Bank International +44(0)1534-606004 betony.taylor@hsbc.com Tim Mullen Hill Knowlton +44(0)207-413-3465 tim.mullen@hillandknowlton.com
SOURCE: HSBC Bank International
CONTACT: Media enquiries to: Betony Taylor, Head of CorporateCommunications, HSBC Bank International, +44(0)1534-606004,betony.taylor@hsbc.com; Tim Mullen, Hill Knowlton, +44(0)207-413-3465, tim.mullen@hillandknowlton.com
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