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Canada, Australia ranked best places for
expats
Reuters - Thursday, November 26
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CANBERRA - Looking to work overseas? Head to Canada, Australia or
Thailand, according to an annual global survey which found
recession-hit Britain was one of the worst locations to live for
expatriates.
The second annual Expat Experience survey, commissioned by HSBC
Bank International, revealed 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 came in the top three in the survey of
3,146 people working in 30 different industries and 50 countries,
even though Thailand was one of the countries worst-hit by the
recession for expats.
"We have seen that there is a distinct trade-off between income and
overall quality of life, as many of the top performers ... scored
toward the bottom of this report's league table ," said Betony
Taylor, spokeswoman for HSBC Bank International.
"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."
Last year Germany, Canada and Spain were the top three countries
deemed to have the best lifestyle for expats.
This year Britain was one of the lowest ranked locations when it
came to lifestyle after being named as one of the most expensive
places for expats with the recession taking its toll.
About 44 percent of expats in Britain are considering returning
home, compared with only 15 percent of expats overall.
About 41 percent of expats in Britain find it difficult to find
somewhere to live, most find the quality of their accommodation
drops after moving to Britain, and a third claim their health has
deteriorated since moving there.
"Despite this, the UK does hold the crown for being expat
entertainment capital of the world, with over half of expats in the
UK saying that the quality of entertainment had increased," said
Taylor.
She added that 62 percent of expats also said that employment
prospects were the main reason keeping them in the region.
Results from a different section of the survey, which was conducted
by research company FreshMinds, released earlier found Russia was
home to the highest proportion of expats earning more than $250,000
with 30 percent of international workers there banking that amount,
followed by Hong Kong and Japan.
The lowest-paid expats live in Australia and Belgium with the
majority -- 63 percent and 61 percent respectively -- earning less
than $100,000.