Spain Takes Third Place in Expat Quality of Life Survey

Spain Takes Third Place in Expat Quality of Life Survey

The weather, food and welcoming people of Spain,

help keep Spain as a top destination

The latest InterNations survey places Spain as the third best place in the world to live as an expat. The poll, which is conducted each year, surveyed 12,500 expats to rate 43 aspects of life in their new home on a scale of one to seven.

InterNations – the largest expat network in the world – take the data and calculate average scores for each country with it. They published their top 17 ranking last week, with Portugal taking top place. The country climbed up 13 places, scoring well in terms of climate and leisure. Second place went to Taiwan.

Spain reaching third place was an improvement on the fourth place it reached last year, with expats praising the Spanish climate, cultural attractions, leisure options, and ability to support high levels of personal happiness. The other countries in the top five were Singapore in fourth place and the Czech Republic in fifth. The other noticeable rankings were Germany in 10^th place, Canada coming in 13^th, and New Zealand coming in 15^th.

Spain always performs well in surveys like this, as it always scores well when it comes to health, happiness, and leisure. The country would score poorly on economic and employment factors for a while though. As the economy of Spain continues to improve, the concerns about the job market and pay are much weaker than they used to be.

It goes without saying that the climate, cuisine, beaches, landscape, safety, security, and overall accessibility of Spain – the blend that makes it such a hot spot for tourism – forms the foundation for a number of successful and happy expats.

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Once settled in to the Spanish life style its hard to leave.

We’d like to start by offering a hearty congratulations to all the people out there that have recently made the choice to leave their home country behind and become an expat. It’s certainly a daunting move, but it could end up being the best decision you’ve ever made.

You shouldn’t worry if you’re having trouble fitting in and settling as soon as you arrive. Everyone goes through the expat life differently, but the process generally follows the same pattern; there’s the initial honeymoon period, then some time spent in doubt and frustration, and then a long period of amusement and bemusement as you take in the differences in culture, before you finally settle in for the long haul; putting down some permanent roots and making new friends.

A recent survey from HSBC known as the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey has assessed that this process takes six months on average.

HSBC polled thousands of expats and found that two-thirds of them took six months to feel like they had truly settled into their new country.

Just under half of expat parents with their children felt it took this long for their children to settle in, seemingly proving the adage that younger people adapt to new surroundings faster.

In the long term, 60% of parents said they feel their children had a higher quality of life abroad. Only 13% of parents feel that expat life was inferior to home life for their children.