Thailand has been ranked the best country in the world for its expatriate experience in the annual HSBC Expat Explorer survey, however the kingdom could not be ranked fully due to a lack of available data regarding raising children.
Based on all criteria China emerged as the top destination for expatriates, according to the survey which looks at findings from 7,000 expatriates around the world. Germany was ranked second while Singapore came third globally.
Thailand also came out top in the “finding accommodation” category. Singapore was ranked in 7th place, Indonesia 16th and Malaysia 19th. In the ‘quality of accommodation” category China again came top. Malaysia was ranked 5th, Singapore 6th, Thailand 8th and Indonesia 9th.
Asia is home to among the highest paid expats in the world as revealed in this year’s Expat Explorer survey, where average expat remuneration packages are at least 15% higher than the global average – US$74,000 per annum, compared to US$64,000 elsewhere.
In Asia, the highest proportion of expats earning more than US$250,000 are located in Indonesia (22 percent), Japan (13 percent) and China (10 percent) compared with a global average of just 3 percent. Comparatively, the lowest-paid expats live in Europe where average salaries are US$53,000 annually. Within Europe, a significant proportion of expats in Spain and Italy earn less than US$60,000 per year (83 percent and 82 percent respectively) compared to the global average of 65 percent.
Thailand was also highlighted as a favourable destination for expats looking for both quality life and improved financial status. As well as taking top spot in the Expat Experience league tables, the country also ranks top for the Disposable Income criteria.
Upon relocation, expats in Thailand are more likely to say they have greater disposable income, with nearly eight in ten expats (76 percent) witnessing an improvement compared with the global average (49 percent). This trend is mirrored elsewhere in the region where a large proportion of expats in Taiwan (64 percent) and Vietnam (64 percent) report similar experiences.
The survey also noted that these thriving Asian countries still have strong appeal for career-minded expats. Despite the recent slowdown of China’s wider economy, nearly seven in ten expats (69 percent) moved to China to take advantage of better job opportunities, closely followed by Singapore (54 percent) and Hong Kong (41 percent).
Full survey: http://www.expatexplorer.hsbc.com
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote
this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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