Expat packages are worsening in Singapore and Hong Kong

HONG KONG — The value of pay and benefits packages for expatriates moving to Hong Kong and Singapore continued to decline last year, according consultancy firm ECA International.

For middle managers in Hong Kong, expat packages — including salary, tax and benefits such as accommodation and schooling — have fallen 2 per cent in US dollar terms over the past five years to around $265,500, while the typical package in Singapore dropped 6 per cent to $235,500, ECA’s annual MyExpatriate Market Pay survey found.

The average expat package for a middle manager in mainland China is worth $282,500, behind Japan — the most expensive package in the Asia-Pacific region — at $367,500. Japanese packages have risen by around 12 per cent from 2016 as the yen strengthened against the dollar over the latest survey period, ECA said.

“Traditionally, Hong Kong has offered more lucrative packages for expatriates than China’s major cities,” Lee Quane, a regional director for Asia with ECA, said in a release. “However, in the past few years, rising cost of living and increased pollution in China made it more challenging to attract international talent and so packages continue to rise in local terms.”

Despite this trend in China, the mainland remains attractive for companies looking to relocate employees as costs have fallen in US dollar terms because the yuan has weakened, Quane said. —