A survey released today has revealed that Canada is the expat destination that offers the best quality of life in the world.
According to survey, which was publicized as part of the NatWest International Personal Banking Quality of Life Index, it is Canada’s natural beauty, cosmopolitan society, safe environment and ease of access to reliable healthcare services that makes it the top destination for British expatriates.
For the third year running, Canada was placed at the top of the list of the best places in the world for quality of living and the survey results indicated that a significant percentage of those surveyed were happy with the level of multiculturalism (88 percent), quality of healthcare (90 percent) and human rights and freedom (96 percent) on offer in their host country.
Canada also topped the Well Being Index, which evaluated expatriates’ perceptions of the state of health, degree of prosperity, sense of belonging and acceptance, life satisfaction, sense of achievement and overall level of happiness in the country within which they were currently living. Discussing Canada’s performance, NatWest head of International Personal Banking Dave Isley said in a statement: “The quality of life factors that contributed to its number one spot in the rankings yet again range from the culture, standard of living, sense of belonging, work/life balance, equality of opportunity to the state of the economy and financial security.”
Expats unaffected by global crisis
The survey also revealed that many expatriates throughout the world had remained immune to the global economic issues that had affected those people that had remained at home. More than two thirds of the UK expats surveyed claimed that they had not experienced any reduction in their quality of life over the past year and a large proportion of them stated that they had no plans at all to return home. Furthermore, the majority of expatriates surveyed were of the opinion that they had made the correct decision when choosing to relocate overseas. Commenting on this, Isely said: “Our Quality of Life Index – which examines expats real life perceptions and experiences and gauges their personal assessments – shows the global financial crisis has failed to dampen the spirits of expats who seem to have adopted the ‘keep calm, carry on’ philosophy,” he said.
Expatriates living in China, UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore said their financial position had ‘improved dramatically’ since moving to the country, while those living in Australia, Canada and New Zealand were of the opinion that their financial wellbeing had ‘improved significantly’.
However, it wasn’t everyone that was benefiting. Expatriates in Western Europe, South Africa and the United States stated that their finances had only improved ‘moderately’ and Brits who had relocated to Spain, France and Portugal were actually worse off as a result of the euro zone crisis.
2012 NatWest International Personal Banking Quality of Life Index
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Australia
- France
- South Africa
- Portugal
- Spain
- United States of America
- United Arab Emirates
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- China
