Best Countries To Live In For Expats

 There's a lot to consider before moving abroad: The effect of a transfer on your daily life, how it will impact your family, will health care meet your needs, is it the right move for your
career and bank account? Well, global financial services company HSBC—who know a thing or two about expats' concerns—is here to help. The company just released the results of its annual Expat Explorer Survey in which researchers asked a range of questions to 27,000 expats from 190 different countries and territories. The questions and the resulting rankings were separated into three overarching categories, or "leagues,"—Family, Experience, and Economics—and all of them considered when compiling the overall rankings

Austria

In a ranking of the best cities for expats released earlier this year by Mercer, Vienna came out on top for the seventh straight year. The access to cultural landmarks, safety, and general ease of life were all cited as reasons why, and Austria makes the top ten here for many of the same reasons but also due to the quality of family life in the country. While it can be more expensive to raise a child overseas, a whopping 77 percent of respondents said the benefits—a better education, more comprehensive family healthcare (Austria comes in at number one in that metric)—outweigh those costs.

Switzerland

Money can't buy you happiness, but if it's what you're looking for, Switzerland is a pretty good place to start. When it comes to economic indicators, it leads the pack. On average, expats in Switzerland earn a hefty $188,000 a year and more than half (56 percent) report being able to build long-term investments and savings faster than the global average. Considering Zurich is among the most expensive cities in the world, you'll need that extra cash for the long weekend trip to the Alps you've got planned.

 Czech Republic

The Czech Republic—or is it Czechia?—catapulted into the top five of HSBC's Expat Explorer results, up from 18th last year. Expats mostly cite the quality of education and other metrics related to family life as the reason why: When it comes to family life, the Czech Republic is second to only Sweden. But the central European country has the upper hand in other categories, especially when it comes to more intangible things like lifestyle and culture.

 Canada

The only North American entry into the top 10—the U.S. sits way down at number 30—Canada is close to the top, with expats particularly praising the country's culture of tolerance (69 percent said that the country was more welcoming to people of different backgrounds than their own) and safety, with 66 percent saying they felt more secure in Canada than back home. In fact, living in Canada is so nice that 80 percent of expats report living there for longer than five years and three-quarters of them reporting that they own property there. This may be surprising, but ask yourself: Surrounded by all that natural beauty, would you leave?

Singapore

The city-state of Singapore is officially the best country in the world to live and work in as an expat. Stability is a major concern while living away from home, especially when families are involved, and Singapore rates very high when it comes to safety on a political, economic, and personal level. Three quarters of expats feel like the country's economy will remain strong, four in five feel safer than they did at home, and 89 percent are confident about continued political stability. Sure, there are the numbers. But, what about the katong laksa, chili crab, and bak kut teh? Let's be real—the actual reason expats love Singapore so much lies within the culinary paradises of its hawker centers, right?

New Zealand

New Zealand comes in as the runner-up, largely in part to its number one spot in the "Experience" section of the survey, which involved questions about the expat's quality of day-to-day life, how easily they've integrated into society, and the ease of finding accommodation and getting settled. In all those measurements, Middle-earth comes out on top, as respondents report an easygoing, friendly environment, with the added benefit that from mountaineering to kayaking, there's just so much to see and do. In fact, New Zealanders working abroad miss their country so much, that there's a hotline devoted to curing homesickness.