S'pore Voted Best Place To Live In For Expats

Source : The Straits Times, July 24, 2008

SINGAPORE has emerged the best place to live in the world in a survey of more than 2,000 expatriates by HSBC Bank.

The city-state also ranked first for quality of accommodation and second for luxury living.

Singapore's safe, tax-efficient environment makes it 'an ideal location for expats to grow and protect their savings and investments'. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

Its closest competitor, Hong Kong, was ranked fifth overall, and first for an expat's ability to earn and save.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States came in as joint second best overall destinations, with Belgium ranking fourth.

HSBC's Expat Explorer Survey - a first for the bank - interviewed 2,155 expatriates across four continents to rank destinations based on living standards, the ability to earn and save, a country's popularity, and the level of luxury experienced.

The survey, released on Thursday, comes after human resources consultancy Mercer ranked the Republic the fifth most expensive Asian city for expatriates - up a notch from a previous survey.

ECA International, also a human resources consultancy, ranked Singapore as the best place for Asian expatriates to live worldwide earlier this year. And in a separate survey, found that Singapore has become a more expensive place for expatriates to live, but it is still cheaper than Hong Kong.

The Republic jumped 17 places to land at the 114th spot in a global survey of the costliest cities for expatriates, on the back of higher inflation and a stronger Singdollar in the past year.

But despite rising living costs, especially in housing, Singapore remains competitive compared to its Asian neighbours such as Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong, and other global financial centres like London and Zurich, said Mercer.

HSBC's head of consumer banking in Singapore, Ms Wendy Lim, said there are about 300,000 expats living in Singapore.

Singapore's safe, tax-efficient environment makes it 'an ideal location for expats to grow and protect their savings and investments', she said.