Expat life can be an exciting and challenging experience, often involving a leap into the unknown
to test one’s comfort zones. Expats embrace fresh challenges all the time while building their lives,
careers and families in many different locations around the world, from the peace of the Appalachian
Mountains to hectic Hong Kong.
In the ninth edition of this annual survey, nearly 27,000 expats from 190 countries and territories
shared their thoughts and experiences of expat life, creating the 2016 Expat Explorer report,
Achieving ambitions abroad.
This year’s findings suggest that whatever you are seeking in life, whether it is finding more fulfilment
in your career, immersing yourself in a new culture, buying a property or getting access to better
education for your children, expat life can help you reach that goal.
Every year, the research is used to create country league tables covering three aspects of life abroad:
Economics, Experience and Family. For the second year in a row, Singapore takes first place as the
best overall destination. Switzerland leads the economics league table, New Zealand tops our league
tables for expat experience, and Sweden is the best destination for expat families.
This year, for the first time, the report also explores the experience of expats living in cities around
the world. Using this unique insight, expats can find the country — and the city — that offer the best
opportunities to achieve their ambitions.
During their time abroad, expats may face unexpected new challenges or simply change their
priorities, but one constant is the need for information about their destination before they move
or when they first arrive. I hope that Achieving ambitions abroad and our Expat Explorer tools will
help expats around the world make the most of the opportunities available to them.
Thank you to all expats who have taken the time to share their views with us over the past nine years.
