Singapore has been ranked as the best place for expats to live and work in.
In a survey conducted by HSBC, the Southeast Asian country has been ranked first among the best places for expats to live and work in. This has been the fourth year in a row when Singapore claimed the title.
A total of 22,318 expats took part in the HSBC Expat Explorer survey conducted by YouGov in March and April.
According to the survey, Singapore was ranked first out of 31 places.
While expats in Singapore are paid less on average than those working in Hong Kong, the Southeast Asian country did better in the ratings of its family benefits and overall quality of life.
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New Zealand bagged the second position among the best places for expats’ living and working in followed by Germany and Canada. All the three countries maintained their previous year’s ranking in this year’s survey.
Bahrain has been ranked fifth in the survey as the best place for expats to live and work in. The Gulf country registered phenomenal improvement in its ranking this year as compared to last year’s survey. In 2017’s Survey it was ranked at 9th position among the best countries for expats.
Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates have been ranked 6th, 7ht, 8th, 9th and 10th best place, respectively, for expats’ living and working in.
Don’t agree with that ranking, here is a list of downsides to make any readers reconsider, from one who has lived there. Singapore has:
1. Very expensive housing
2. Very expensive items of daily life.
3. Very expensive medical care that must be fully paid for by expats (Singapore born residents have it better)
4. Children’s education – only primary levels free, the rest is expensive (again, the costs), very high pressure throughout.
All the above means you won’t end up with a large savings bank account.
5. Hot climate year round
6. Rains daily.
7. Claustrophobic after a few months of living there – Singapore is a tiny island.
Great place for a short visit, but after some time all the above become unbearable for many foreigners.