HSBC survey: Expats in PH are ‘closer to their partners’

THE Philippines ranked 37th out of the 45 destinations surveyed on expat experience, the 2016 HSBC Expat Explorer revealed.

Topping the list is Singapore, while leading in the economic category is Switzerland. New Zealand scored highest for experience, while Sweden came out on top for family life. The expat survey involved 27,000 respondents coming from 190 countries.

While the Philippines ranked on the lower end of the survey, it scored highest in terms of “being closer to a partner” subcategory and fifth for social life.

“Philippines is the top country in the world for expats to say the move has brought them closer to their partner (59 percent). The cost of education and childcare can be more expensive abroad, but the majority (57 percent) of expats in the Philippines would find quite the opposite and say the overall cost of raising children is less expensive there,” HSBC said.

“An additional benefit of raising a family in the Philippines is how smoothly the family members are able to socially adapt and ‘feel at home.’ For 45 percent of expats, the Philippines felt like home in less than six months,” it added.

In addition, the country ranked eighth in terms of easily integrating with the locals, with benefits ranging from ease of finding good accommodation or of forming new friendships, to how Filipinos em- brace diversity.

Meanwhile, it ranked 23rd on family life in the country, and 32nd in lifestyle.

Based on the HSBC report, one of the expats surveyed in the Philippines said, “You don’t need to bring anything except your smile.” Once in the country, one would not feel like a stranger, as it is natural for Filipinos to be more than willing and happy to assist an expat in adjusting to the country’s culture and environment.

HSBC president and CEO for Philippines Wick Veloso, in a statement, affirms this Filipino hospitality that allowed the country to rank higher in some categories. Although he also took note of the importance of easy accessibility of financial services.

“It is vital that financial services are easily accessible for expats to access personal funds, insurance, and investments while living abroad. It is even more crucial that they are able to discuss their needs with financial advisers with ease, confident that the unique needs and requirements of an expat living overseas are fully understood,” Veloso said.

Singapore, being the most ideal expat destination, received 62 percent approval or more than three in five expats in Singapore saying it is a good place to progress their career, with the same proportion seeing their earnings rise after moving to the country.

Overall, 66 percent of expats agree that Singapore offers a better quality of life than their home country, while three quarters or 75 percent of the respondents say the quality of education in Singapore is better than at home, the highest proportion in the world.

Meanwhile, at the top five bottom of the survey are, Kenya on the 40th spot followed by Chile (41), Peru (42), Italy (43), Egypt (44) and Brazil (45).

The survey defines expats as those 18 years old and above staying outside their home country. The survey was distributed through an online questionnaire filled out between March and April 2016.

The survey also found that millennials are drawn to expat life “to find more purpose in their careers”, with nearly a quarter or 22 percent of expats aged 18 to 34 moved abroad. Meanwhile, only 14 percent of those aged 34 to 54 and only seven percent of those aged 55 and above choose to move out of their home country.

Millennials are also the most likely to embrace expat life in search of a new challenge and 49 percent of them reporting that they are more fulfilled at work than they were in their home country.

Generally, expats surveyed believe foreign work accelerates their progress towards financial goals.