Forget Hong Kong, Taiwan is the new expat hotspot
New survey finds our city to be the most expensive place in the world to live, while island scores highly across the board
Hong Kong’s expats face increased living costs, growing difficulty in making friends and are generally less happy overall, with a new survey suggesting they would be better off living in Taiwan.
The city’s foreigners report feeling particularly frustrated by the rising cost of living in 2016, as Hong Kong became the most expensive place in the world to live.
Hong Kong’s overall ranking in the Expat Insider survey, published by expatriate networking website InterNations on Monday, fell further than all but two of 66 other countries this year – from 26th to 44th place. It marks a dramatic drop for the city from 10th place just two years ago. Meanwhile Taiwan, a new entry in the survey last year, topped the poll.
The city ranked a dismal 59th for work/life balance, largely dictated by its lengthy working hours, with the average expat working 48.5 hours per week. By comparison, Taiwan earned fifth place for the same factor. But Hong Kong did achieve a respectable 24th place for overall job satisfaction, in a city where most expats have relocated for new career opportunities.
Since last year, it has also fallen from 24th to 42nd place in the survey’s Personal Finance Index section. The result coincides with a study published by global consultants Mercer this year which found Hong Kong was the most expensive city in the world to live.