No Matter How Hard it Gets 85% of Expats Choose to Stay Living Abroad

There’s no doubt about it, the global financial crisis has taken its toll on us all.  Expatriates around the world are reportedly attempting to spend less, save more towards a rainy day fund and are cutting back on luxuries and essentials in a bid to afford a rising cost of living, and to cope in the event that things get even tougher, financially speaking.

But no matter how hard it gets, according to HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey, 85% of expats choose to stay living abroad.  This speaks volumes about the famed expat lifestyle and how much better off people find themselves to be when they relocate overseas.

It seems that money isn’t everything for expats when it comes to the lifestyle they lead, because even those who explained in the survey that their cost of living had gone up meaning that they cannot enjoy such a high quality of life materially speaking, were happy to remain living abroad.  This is a real boost to anyone thinking currently about relocating overseas – because even though it can now be harder to move abroad because of financial pressures, it seems that the rewards are still certainly there for expats.

The Expat Explorer Survey by HSBC interviewed well over 3,000 individual expats from 50 countries across the world to gauge their feedback on everything to do with money matters, expatriate lifestyle and what it’s truly like to live a brand new life abroad.  It revealed that people’s attitudes have really changed towards their spending in the face of the economic situation globally, with almost 70% of respondents revealing that they have been trying to save on day-to-day costs and almost 60% stating that they have really cut down on luxuries.

However, despite these facts and the clear truth that expats all over the world have personally felt the effects of the global recession, a resounding 85% of all those surveyed stated that they would not let the financial crisis send them home.  They did state that they were worried about there being limited career prospects abroad and that they may have to face a reduction in the duration of contracts in some cases – but as stated, the vast majority replied that they would not want to return home.

The global recession has had an impact on the day-to-day life of expats though, 16% stated that they could no longer afford such a good lifestyle as they previously had abroad, with 19% stating that as the cost of living has risen in their new nation, so they have seen a reduced value for money in living abroad.  None of these were seen as reasons to give up the expatriate lifestyle however – which just goes to prove what we already knew.  There’s nothing to beat the expat life abroad!  It offers up so many new challenges and opportunities, it is a fantastic thrill and a way to explore the world, meet new people and enjoy new experiences on a daily basis.

If you’re thinking about moving abroad to live, work, find employment, progress your career or even retire, this hopefully will give you a confidence boost to know that no matter how bad it gets, it’s still better to be living overseas!