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Switzerland Top Destination for Expats

Switzerland Top Destination for Expats
Switzerland Top Destination for Expats

Switzerland is the world’s favorite destination among expats, followed by Singapore and China, a poll on quality of life for bank HSBC has found.

“Many Switzerland-based expats mentioned the better work-life balance, availability of outdoor activities and the family-centric culture as the reasons they enjoy the Swiss lifestyle,” Stuff.co of New Zealand quoted the British bank as saying.

The poll questioned 9,300 people working in various sectors and mostly aged between 35 and 54.

They were asked about their financial situation, such as salary, savings and the local economy, as well as their quality of life and family issues such as education opportunities for children.

Switzerland emerged the winner, with a trusted economy, good quality of life and comfortable salaries: a quarter of expats said they earned more than $200,000 a year.

Asia was a strong region for salaries, with an average annual expat wage of $120,000, compared with a global average of $92,000.

Singapore “performs solidly in all areas accounting for quality of life” while offering good economic opportunities, the survey said.

Meanwhile, China was a top country for high-earners, with one in four of respondents there earning more than $300,000 a year, and having more disposable income to spend on their social lives.

Other top-ranked countries were Germany, seen as stable and safe, followed by Bahrain, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong.

The UAE has been ranked the 15th, below other PGCC countries such as Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. Malaysia ranked 19th.

While 60 percent of expats moved to the UAE because of increasing job opportunities, 58 percent said they have more disposable income here than their home countries.

However, six out of 10 expats stated that they would consider moving away from the UAE because it is too expensive, higher than the global average of 32 percent.

Rising rents pose the biggest threat to the financial well-being of expats in the UAE, according to 58 percent of the respondents.

The lowest-ranked of the 34 countries was Egypt, followed by the United Kingdom and Brazil.

Financialtribune.com