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Expat Insider - The World Through Expat Eyes

Expat Insider 2016: Three Years of Insights

For the third year in a row, Expat Insider — one of the largest expat surveys worldwide — offers an in-depth analysis of everyday expat life in more than 60 countries across the globe. More than 14,000 respondents representing 174 nationalities and 191 countries or territories took part and had their say on moving, living, and working abroad.


The survey covers a wide range of topics, including basic facts about demographic data and the moving process. It focuses on participants’ happiness with a variety of factors related to their country of residence and personal life abroad. Needless to say, we don’t only address traditional expats. Our participants’ backgrounds and their reasons for moving are as multi-faceted as the globe itself!

You can explore our detailed results below!

Ranking and Reports

Are you curious about where expats enjoy the best work-life balance? Which countries are great, or less than great, for raising children abroad? Or where expats can make new friends easily?

Our country rankings list the best (and worst) among 67 destinations across the globe, focusing on essential topics: quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, family life, and personal finance. We also compare the most popular destinations for expat women vs. men.

This year’s survey report doesn’t focus on gender, though. With a view to the increasingly digitalized and globalized nature of work, we are going for a closer examination of the Working Abroad Index in 2016 and all the factors that play into it. After all, 35% of our respondents cite a career-related reason as their main motivation for relocating.

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Country & Regional Reports: Your Country Through Expat Eyes

We have been taking a closer look at various expat destinations, featuring 15 in-depth country profiles, from Austria to the USA. We have added a new format as well: three regional reports zoom in on Australia and New Zealand, key African destinations, and the Arab Gulf states.

Read on and find out what expatriate life there is like!

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Nationality Reports: Mapping Expats around the World

As with the profiles on various countries or regions, we also wanted to portray the people who dared to take a step into the unknown and are now living abroad. From usually monolingual Australians and long-staying Germans to the romantic Swiss people and retired US Americans, our ten nationality reports allow for a closer look at expats around the world.

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Infographics

The Expat Insider infographics provide a handy visualization of some of the most interesting results, as well as information on the makeup of the survey population and the overall ranking. Click on the images below to see the full-size infographic and get an embed code for your website.

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