Expats living in S'pore just loving it: poll

July 25, 2008
Expats living in S'pore just loving it: poll
By ARTHUR SIM

SINGAPORE has been ranked the best place in the world to live in,
based on a poll of expatriates.

The Expat Explorer survey for HSBC Bank International revealed that,
as well as being top overall, expats rate Singapore best for quality
of accommodation and second in terms of luxury living.

The survey was conducted between February and April, with data
analysis conducted by Freshminds. It looked at a range of topics
relevant to expats' lives, including living standards, an expat's
ability to earn and save, a country's popularity and the level of
luxury experienced.

On luxury, countries were rated on a number of categories, including
access to private healthcare, access to more than one property, and
ability to own a pool and to employ staff (such as cleaners).

Across the 11 categories of perceived luxuries, on average, expats
reported an increase in eight of these factors, with employing staff
ranked as the highest increase.

The United Arab Emirates was the most luxurious destination, with
expats enjoying increases in 10 of the 11 categories, followed by
Singapore and India.

The UK was ranked the least luxurious with decreases recorded in nine
of the 11 luxuries.

The survey polled 2,155 expats in more than 49 countries. However,
only countries with at least 30 respondents were analysed in the
league tables.

Accommodation is a key concern of expats and almost three-quarters of
expats living in Singapore said that the quality of their
accommodation had improved since moving away from home, the highest
amount recorded in the study.

This was followed by those living in the United States and Belgium.

The UK was identified as the most expensive expat location for
accommodation, with over three-quarters of expats living there
revealing that their living costs had increased.

In terms of remuneration, expats in Hong Kong (ranked fifth overall)
have the world's highest salaries, with almost half earning more than
£pounds;100,000 (S$271,000) per annum.

It was found that Europe is a popular destination overall in terms of
the length of stay. More than three-quarters of expats now living in
the Netherlands have been there for three or more years, followed by
Germany and Spain. Hong Kong and Singapore were ranked fifth and
sixth respectively.

HSBC head of consumer banking (Singapore) Wendy Lim estimates that
there are over 300,000 expatriates residing in Singapore. She
said: 'Singapore's safe, tax-efficient environment makes it an ideal
location for expatriates to grow and protect their savings and
investments.'

Singapore is home to one of HSBC's five offshore banking centres
around the world, the others being Hong Kong, Dubai, New Jersey and
Miami.