What Expats Really Think of India - India Real Time - WSJ
Family members of British expatriates living in New Delhi celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012.
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Expatriates living in India often have gripes, for instance about the heat, the dirt, how difficult it is to find good cheese.
But when it comes to other perks, including opportunities for travel, ease of raising children and a low cost of living, India comes out in the top 10 places to be an expatriate, according to a survey of 9,000 expats conducted by HSBC HSBA.LN +0.68%.
The bank ranked India ninth out of 34 countries as a destination for overseas living, ahead of Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. “Lower living costs and good perks for families make India an increasingly attractive expat destination,” the report, published last week, said.
Expats living in India ranked it highly in terms of diet, entertainment, making local friends and social life.
However, it’s not all good news. When it comes to quality of life, ease of setting up and integrating into the country as an expat, India falls to 20th position, below Vietnam, Russia and Thailand. The country fared particularly badly when ranked for how easy it is to set up utilities, organize finances and adapt to work culture.
Many foreigners living in India (60%) agreed though that the country is “getting better as a place to live and work,” the survey found.
A breakdown of the rankings shows that India’s best score was for raising children overseas: It came second place in rankings for childcare and education.
“One of the main benefits of raising a family in India is that many find it more cost effective, with 44% of expats reporting that the cost of raising children there is lower than in their home country, well above the global average of 17%,” the report’s authors said. A big part of this is the low cost of childcare and education in the country, the report said further.
Though lower scores for children’s health (20th) and experience (18th) scores pulled its ranking for raising children abroad down slightly to sixth overall.
More than one in four expats surveyed in India were seconded to the country by their companies. Half of expats surveyed in India were aged between 35 and 54 and British people made up the largest single nationality with 23% of those surveyed. Next was the United States with 14%.
Overall, Switzerland was deemed to be the best place to be an expat, followed by Singapore and China.
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- Joanna Sugden
- CONNECT
Family members of British expatriates living in New Delhi celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012.
Getty Images
Expatriates living in India often have gripes, for instance about the heat, the dirt, how difficult it is to find good cheese.
But when it comes to other perks, including opportunities for travel, ease of raising children and a low cost of living, India comes out in the top 10 places to be an expatriate, according to a survey of 9,000 expats conducted by HSBC HSBA.LN +0.68%.
The bank ranked India ninth out of 34 countries as a destination for overseas living, ahead of Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. “Lower living costs and good perks for families make India an increasingly attractive expat destination,” the report, published last week, said.
Expats living in India ranked it highly in terms of diet, entertainment, making local friends and social life.
However, it’s not all good news. When it comes to quality of life, ease of setting up and integrating into the country as an expat, India falls to 20th position, below Vietnam, Russia and Thailand. The country fared particularly badly when ranked for how easy it is to set up utilities, organize finances and adapt to work culture.
Many foreigners living in India (60%) agreed though that the country is “getting better as a place to live and work,” the survey found.
A breakdown of the rankings shows that India’s best score was for raising children overseas: It came second place in rankings for childcare and education.
“One of the main benefits of raising a family in India is that many find it more cost effective, with 44% of expats reporting that the cost of raising children there is lower than in their home country, well above the global average of 17%,” the report’s authors said. A big part of this is the low cost of childcare and education in the country, the report said further.
Though lower scores for children’s health (20th) and experience (18th) scores pulled its ranking for raising children abroad down slightly to sixth overall.
More than one in four expats surveyed in India were seconded to the country by their companies. Half of expats surveyed in India were aged between 35 and 54 and British people made up the largest single nationality with 23% of those surveyed. Next was the United States with 14%.
Overall, Switzerland was deemed to be the best place to be an expat, followed by Singapore and China.
