Workers who daydream of packing their bags to move abroad may want to consider Taipei for a personal and professional reset.
For the second year in a row, Taiwan’s capital was named the No. 1 city for expats to move abroad for work, according to the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations, an online resource group for expats around the world.
More than 20,000 expat workers participated in the survey and represented 178 nationalities living in 187 countries or territories.
For the best cities ranking, expats rated 25 elements of living abroad that measured quality of life, getting settled, work-life satisfaction, financial security and housing, and local cost of living.
Taipei came out on top thanks to its high ratings for overall quality of life. The city ranked third out of 82 cities for this particular category. Tokyo, Japan, came in first, while Zug, Switzerland, came in second for top quality of life standards.
Expats in Taipei were especially satisfied with local transportation, as well as available and affordable health care.
Workers did note that getting settled in Taipei was more difficult, likely because of a language barrier where many residents primarily speak Mandarin Chinese or Taiwanese Hokkien. However, newcomers did rank locals high in terms of friendliness, and the majority of people who recently moved to Taipei said they were happy with their new social life.
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was named the second-best city to move to for expats and was identified as the world’s easiest city to get settled in. While Malay is the official language of the country, English is widely used, and 92% of expats found it easy to live in Kuala Lumpur without speaking the local language. That’s compared to a 47% average of expats who feel similarly in other cities across the world. Expats in Kuala Lumpur rated financial security and affordable cost of living highly, and though long-term career opportunities were lacking, expats said they were very satisfied with their jobs in general.
Recent reports have found people who move abroad are happy not just with the change to their daily lives, but they’re also seeing benefits to their careers. One MetLife survey found 91% of expat workers who receive company benefits are satisfied with their jobs, compared to 73% of their colleagues who stay local. And according to HSBC’s latest expat survey, the average 18 to 34-year-old’s salary rose 35% after relocating overseas, from $40,358 to $54,484.
Here are the best cities around the world to move to for work.
10. Basel, Switzerland
- 93% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 82% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 59% of expats feel at home in the city
- 50% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 72% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 63% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
9. The Hague, Netherlands
- 88% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 70% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 69% of expats feel at home in the city
- 56% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 73% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 68% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
8. Zug, Switzerland
- 98% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 87% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 67% of expats feel at home in the city
- 43% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 65% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 67% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
7. Barcelona, Spain
- 82% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 88% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 77% of expats feel at home in the city
- 77% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 65% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 70% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
6. Lisbon, Portugal
- 96% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 72% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 73% of expats feel at home in the city
- 79% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 63% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 74% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
5. Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- 91% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 64% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 66% of expats feel at home in the city
- 71% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 73% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 73% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
4. Singapore
- 100% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 79% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 73% of expats feel at home in the city
- 77% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 64% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 54% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
3. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- 79% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 68% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 71% of expats feel at home in the city
- 71% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 79% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 71% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 78% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 86% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 75% of expats feel at home in the city
- 74% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 80% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 68% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
1. Taipei, Taiwan
- 96% of expats feel safe in their new city
- 94% of expats rate the availability of health care positively
- 75% of expats feel at home in the city
- 67% of expats find it easy to adjust to local culture
- 72% of expats are satisfied with their job
- 76% of expats are satisfied with their work-life balance
Source: cnbc
