The first two reports from the annual HSBC Expat Explorer Survey for 2010 were recently published online: The Expat Economics and Expat Experience reports. They reveal a wealth of information on the economic and daily life situations expats face in 25 countries. The data is based on the responses of over 4,000 expats (RW3 CultureWizard was happy to help spread the word about the survey in our May issue of the CultureWizard Digest).

Here are some interesting findings from the Expat Experience report:

+ 25% of expats found “adapting to culture,” especially in the BRIC countries, a top concern
+ The most prevalent challenges was “re-establishing a social life,” which 41% found to be true
+ Thailand comes out at the top in terms of expat lifestyle
+ Countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia scored high for expat finances, but performed badly on quality of life rankings
+ Europeans prove to be the least friendly to expats

And, from the Expat Economics report:
+ Emerging economies remain on top for expat finances
+ Russia is home to the wealthiest expats, followed by the Middle East
+ The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are emerging as expat hotspots
+ Expats are repatriating a significant proportion of their wealth

In contrast to Europe being unfriendly to expats, “the results of the survey suggest that ease of learning the local language and adapting to the local culture are areas that the United States fares well as an expat destination.”

Click on the links above to read the survey reports. If you’re an expat, please share your experiences by commenting on this post. We love to hear about the best and the worst parts of being an expatriate, no matter where you are!

Sean

RW3 CultureWizard

The HSBC Expat Explorer Survey for 2009 was released last week. The survey is now in its second year and gathered information from over 3,100 expats in over 50 countries. What were the general results?

* Canada is #1 overall place to live as an expatriate
* Australia comes in at #2 and Thailand at #3
* China, UK, Russia and India scored poorly for quality of life
* In terms of making local friends, UAE was at the top and Brazil at the bottom
* Expats joined the most local community groups in Singapore, and the least in Bahrain

* In general, expats experience a higher quality of life
* Large salaries and a high standard of living aren’t mutually exclusive

Most interestingly, “…the luckiest expats for finding love were found in Thailand – some 47% admit finding love since moving to the country. This is in stark contrast to the worldwide average of just 20%.” Since the experience is different for everyone, it would be interesting to see a detailed breakdown of responses according to respondents’ country of origin. This could help readers understand how the results would match their own national and cultural background.

Where have you had the best and/or worst expatriate experience? How has culture played a role in your experience?

Paul

RW-3.com