British bank HSBC has released their annual Expat Explorer Survey. In 2016, the Netherlands has dropped three places to number 15 of the most desirable places worldwide for expats to reside.   

The survey

HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey is in its ninth year. It included a total of 26.871 expats across 190 different countries.

The survey aimed to track happiness as well as comparing economic and family benefits such as finance, healthcare, schools, and quality of living to get a well-rounded overall view of the expat experience for each country.

The Netherlands

In 2015, the Netherlands performed far better reaching number 12. However, despite falling three places, the Netherlands has seen some improvement overall.

In terms of its economy and family life, the country performed much better in 2016. For example, job security, life-work balance and the cost of raising children were rated far higher than Singapore, the winner of the Expat Explorer Survey.

For culture and social life however, the Netherlands performed poorly. So badly, it only made it to 42 in that category. It also ranked low in terms of disposable income and savings.

The top 15 expat countries 

› 1 Singapore 
› 2 New Zealand 
› 3 Canada 
› 4 Czech Republic 
› 5 Switzerland 
› 6 Norway 
› 7 Austria
› 8 Sweden
› 9 Bahrain 
› 10 Germany 
› 11 Australia 
› 12 United Arab Emirates 
› 13 Hong Kong 
› 14 Taiwan 
› 15 The Netherlands

To find out who else made it, visit the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey.