Despite being one the most expensive cities in the world and fears of looming inflation, expatriates say that Singapore is the best place to live in Asia and second only to Switzerland in the world.
According to HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey conducted by research company YouGov which polled 9,288 expats from over 100 countries, Switzerland ranks as the best expat destination in the world, while Singapore comes at a close second. China, Germany and Bahrain are found in the third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Countries garner scores through their expats’ overall impression, summarising various aspects including salary levels. the ease of settling in the environment and community, the children’s educational opportunities and cost-effectiveness of everyday expenses.
Singapore in particular performs consistently well in all areas accounting for quality of life, having high quality of accommodation, healthcare and the diverse range of food available. 71 percent found it easy to fit in the Singapore culture while 88 percent are able to easily navigate and travel around the country. Surprisingly, 73 percent say that the weather here is easy to get used to — which is something even the locals will disagree about.
The survey also finds that Asia is home to the highest earning expats, who are almost three times more likely to earn more than $250,000 per year as compared to their counterparts in Europe. Two-fifths of the respondents have also mentioned that they prefer Asia as it provides them a new challenge.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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