It’s a September to remember! Each year, this month not only marks a change of seasons, it’s also our anniversary month. In 2022, we’re celebrating a special one: 15 years of bringing international people together and making life abroad a fun experience.
We’re excited to see how many of our members jumped on board and joined our Ambassadors and Consuls in marking this occasion with us — often with delicious cake. And the celebration isn’t over yet! Take a look at some of September’s highlights.
The Life of the Party
For this special occasion, InterNations Beijing organized one of the greatest parties of the year. People gathered at the amazing rooftop bar V Park for a wonderful night — full of smiles, great music, and friendly people. There were a lot of surprises, too, with a prize draw and the chance to sign up for a free two-week Mandarin class with That’s Mandarin, one of the most acclaimed language schools in the city.
For millions of people across the globe, August is the perfect time to leave behind the daily grind and make room in their busy schedules for vacation plans.
Are you also finding yourself with some leisure time on your hands this month? But you haven’t made any plans yet? Don’t worry — an amazing break doesn’t need to feature a vacation on some faraway tropical island. Sometimes, a “staycation” in your own city is just as much fun.
Let our InterNations Communities around the world inspire you!
What has sparked your curiosity lately? Have you wanted to try your hand at a new hobby, learn something new, or get to know people in a whole new way? Curiosity is an important trait that many of us lose as we grow up. But it’s what opens up our world to more knowledge, ideas, skills, and opportunities. Sometimes, we all need to break out of the expat rut and expand our horizons. Find out what our members were curious about this month!
Flexing Your Artistic Muscles
The Dubai Drawing & Coloring Group gathered to learn some techniques for acrylic painting and get some tips on how to improve their technique. The title of the picture they painted was “Together” and that was also the motto of the event, as the group explored some new skills together.
The Expat Insider 2022 survey by InterNations reveals the best and worst destinations for living and working abroad.
Mexico, Indonesia, Taiwan, Portugal, Spain, the UAE, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and Singapore are the best destinations for expats in 2022.
The worst destinations for expats are Kuwait (52nd), New Zealand, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, Italy, and Malta (43rd).
For the ninth time, InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with more than 4 million members, has published the results of its Expat Insider survey. With nearly 12,000 respondents, it is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, providing insights into expat life in 52 destinations. The survey offers in-depth information on expats’ satisfaction with the Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, and Personal Finance in their respective country of residence. For the first time, the ranking also includes the new Expat Essentials Index, which covers digital life, admin topics, housing, and language.
Mexico (1st), Indonesia (2nd), and Taiwan (3rd) make up the top 3 destinations, and they all rank very well in the Ease of Settling In and Personal Finance Indices. On the other hand, the bottom 3 destinations, Kuwait (52nd), New Zealand, and Hong Kong, all perform poorly in terms of personal finances for expats. While Kuwait ranks among the worst destinations worldwide for all factors, expats in New Zealand struggle with their career and those in Hong Kong are unhappy with the local environment.
While two of the bottom 3 can be found in Northern Europe, two of the three most welcoming expat destinations are located in Southeast Asia. But the clear number one is … Mexico.
Top Findings
#1 Mexico is the uncontested winner here, placing first for each rating factor.
#2 Indonesia also has a very strong performance in all three subcategories.
#3 The Philippines does especially well with regard to Finding Friends.
#52 Kuwait, #51 Sweden, and #50 Norway make up the bottom 3 of this index.
The top 10 are geographically diverse, but European countries predominate among the bottom 10.
The Top 10
Methodology
The Expat Insider 2022 survey features 52 destinations with a minimum sample size of 50 respondents. The Ease of Settling In Index is based on three subcategories with two or three rating factors each. The respondents were asked to rate each factor on a scale of 1 to 7.
The Local Friendliness Subcategory is based on the general friendliness of the local population and their friendliness towards foreign residents. Finding Friends includes making local friends and expats’ satisfaction with their social life. For this subcategory, the respondents were also asked if they have a personal support network in their current country of residence. Lastly, the Culture & Welcome Subcategory covers feeling at home, feeling welcome, and getting used to the local culture.
