HSBC Bank International Study Reveals UK Expats Adopt a Work Hard / Play Hard Attitude

Expats Reveal UK is an Entertainment Hotspot but Region Still Struggles on Overall Quality of Life

LONDON, November 25 - Key findings

    - Employment prospects keep expats in the UK
    - Largest global survey of expats ranks UK lifestyle 23rd out of 26th
      countries
    - Canada is the best place to live as an expat for overall lifestyle
    - Established markets outperform emerging markets
    - Expats generally lead a better life than non-expats

HSBC Bank International today revealed the findings of the world's
largest survey of expats, Expat Explorer.

Expat Experience, the second report in the Expat Explorer research,
showed that expats in Canada have the best quality of life and found it among
the easiest places in the world to integrate with the local population.
Australia and Thailand also ranked in the top three countries, when life as
an expat was compared with life in their home country.

Interestingly, a number of countries in emerging markets scored poorly,
with Russia and India propping up the bottom of the league table.

Commenting on this, Betony Taylor, Corporate Communications Manager for
HSBC Bank International, said that the second report revealed fascinating
insights into expats' priorities, particularly when financial gain is taken
out of the equation.

"We have seen that there is a distinct trade-off between income and
overall quality of life, as many of the top performers in our first report,
which examined the best places to make and save money, have scored towards
the bottom of this report's league table."

"What is clear is that the locations where salaries may not be as high,
such as Canada and Australia, are where expats are really enjoying not only
an increased quality of life but are also finding it easy to fit in to their
new communities."

UK continues to perform poorly but holds the entertainment crown

As it did in 2008, our research revealed that the UK was one of the
lowest ranked locations when it comes to expat lifestyle. Two-fifths (41%) of
expats in the UK find it difficult to find somewhere to live, compared to a
28% average across all regions surveyed. Less than one-fifth (16%) of expats
in the UK found that the quality of their accommodation had increased since
moving, compared to the majority (58%) noticing a decrease in quality.

Around a third (31%) of expats living in the UK claimed that their health
has deteriorated since moving there. One factor that could have contributed
to this is the commute to work - over half (53%) of UK-based expats claim
that this has become worse.

Despite this, the UK does hold the crown for being expat entertainment
capital of the world, with over half (58%) of expats in the UK saying that
the quality of entertainment had increased. 62% of expats also said that
employment prospects were the main reason keeping them in the region.

Get involved

Are you an expat? Follow the updates and join the debate online:

Tweet at: twitter.com/expatexplorer

Share your experiences: expatexplorer.blogspot.com/

Read the report in full: www.offshore.hsbc.com/expatexplorer

    Media enquiries to:
    Betony Taylor
    Head of Corporate Communications
    HSBC Bank International
    +44(0)1534-606004
    betony.taylor@hsbc.com

    Tim Mullen
    Hill & Knowlton
    +44(0)207-413-3465
    tim.mullen@hillandknowlton.com

Media enquiries to: Betony Taylor, Head of Corporate Communications, HSBC Bank International, +44(0)1534-606004, betony.taylor at hsbc.com; Tim Mullen, Hill & Knowlton, +44(0)207-413-3465, tim.mullen at hillandknowlton.com