For the sixth year, InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with 3.6 million members, publishes its Expat Insider survey. With more than 20,000 respondents, it is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, sharing insights into expat life in 64 destinations. The survey offers in-depth information about expats’ satisfaction with the quality of life, ease of settling in, working life, personal finance, cost of living, and family life in their respective country of residence.
Expats in Greece are extremely worried about their personal finances and unhappy with their working life
Greece comes 57th out of 64 destinations in the Expat Insider 2019 survey. It is voted the worst country for personal finance for the sixth year in a row, also ranking second to last in the Working Abroad Index. However, expats do enjoy the great weather and find it easy to make local friends.
The Best and Worst Destinations for Expats in 2019
Meanwhile, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Portugal are the best expat destinations: all of them attract expats with their ease of settling in and good personal finances. While expats in Taiwan and Portugal are also extremely satisfied with the quality of life, those in Vietnam appreciate their great work life.
Taiwan, Vietnam, and Portugal are followed by Mexico, Spain, Singapore, Bahrain, Ecuador, Malaysia, and Czechia.
At the other end of the ranking, Kuwait (64th out of 64), Italy, and Nigeria are the worst destinations for expats in 2019. While Kuwait is the country where expats find it hardest to settle in, Italy offers the worst work life, and Nigeria the worst quality of life in the world.
Together with Kuwait, Italy, and Nigeria, Brazil, Turkey, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, Russia, and South Korea are the worst destinations.
The full press release about Greece, as well as the best and worst destinations for expats in 2019. The press release about the biggest winners and losers of the survey, corresponding infographics, and the full report are here.
A press release by internations.
I suspect there is a massive difference in opinion and outlook between those who move to another country to work and bring up a family and those who retire to another country. There are certainly a great many retired UK citizens living in Greece, and for most of us it’s a win-win situation. We bring UK pension income into Greece, our reciprocal health care is funded by the NHS (at a lower cost than the NHS would pay themselves in the UK), and we pay Greek taxes and buy Greek produce. We are net contributors to the Greek economy. In return we enjoy life in a more friendly, relaxed, and less stressful country that is also blessed with beautiful locations and glorious weather. In this time of Brexit UK retirees often ask each other whether we’d go back to the UK. I have yet to meet one who would.
at the same time, those coming in GR for work have exactly the same problems as Greeks: highly worried about personal finances and unhappy about their working life.
Totally agree. UK no better
it must be an infinitesimally small number of people who come _to_ greece for your typical international-scene expat life- maybe those who come on assignments from parasitical megacorps and EU nomenklatura.. Outside of those small categories, the prospects for making a decent living are close to zero. how many educated proffessional greeks have gone in the opposite direction to find a decent job abroad? The only people i can think of who come to greece to try to make a living (legally and not just trying to get a foothold in the EU to move on to greener pastures north and west) are greeks born abroad who make a stoneheaded attempt to return to the patrida. almost all give up and leave with a very bitter attitude after a few years.