Taiwan has been named the world’s best place to live for expatriates in the latest InterNations Expat Insider survey, impressing foreigners living in the nation with quality healthcare and the ability to make a good living.
In addition to replacing Ecuador atop the overall ranking of 67 nations, Taiwan was ranked among the top 10 in each of the survey’s five indices, according to the annual survey.
“Taiwan holds first place in the Quality of Life and Personal Finance indices, impressing with the quality and affordability of its healthcare and the enviable financial situation of expatriates living there,” InterNations said.
Taiwan ranked second in the survey’s “Working Abroad” index, with 34 percent of expatriates in Taiwan completely satisfied with their jobs, more than double the global average of 16 percent, it said.
“This small island country also holds second place for overall satisfaction with life abroad, with 93 percent voicing their general contentment,” behind only Spain, the survey said.
In the other two main categories, Taiwan finished 10th in the “Ease of Settling In” index and eighth in the “Family Life” index.
Founded in 2007, InterNations is the largest network for expatriates in the world, with a total of 2.3 million members.
The InterNations network has a presence in the communities of 390 cities worldwide.
Taiwan was included for the first time among nations covered by the annual survey, now in its third edition.
The survey polled more than 14,000 respondents representing 174 nationalities and 191 nations or territories, with respondents talking about their experiences in moving, living and working in the 67 destinations.
InterNations said that a majority of expatriates in Taiwan planned to stay for more than three years (64 percent), and many of them (36 percent) even considered the possibility of living in the nation permanently.
In a report on the InterNations survey, Forbes cited an expatriate from Sweden who has lived in Taiwan for almost a decade as saying that the nation made him feel at home.
“Taiwan is one of the best hidden gems of the Asia-Pacific,” Martin Lindstrom, general manager of IKEA in Taiwan, told Forbes. “It is very easy to feel at home here.”
Lindstrom told Forbes that Taiwan has a beautiful countryside with “scenic mountains and great opportunities for hiking or biking,” adding that he also enjoyed the local cuisine and amazing coffee shops.
Most importantly, Taiwan has really friendly people, Lindstrom said.
Lindstrom’s comments echoed the InterNations survey, which showed that Taiwan did best in terms of friendly attitude toward families with children, with 58 percent of respondents saying that in this regard Taiwan was “very good,” compared with an average of 39 percent worldwide.
“Looking at these results, it comes as no surprise that one in six expats living in Taiwan has entered the country seeking — and obviously finding — a better standard of living,” the survey said.
Following Taiwan, Malta ranked as the second-best place for expatriates in the survey, ahead of Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Australia, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic.
On the bottom of the survey were Kuwait (67th), Greece (66th), Nigeria (65th), Brazil (64th), Saudi Arabia (63rd), Egypt (62nd), Mozambique (61st), Qatar (60th), Italy (59th) and Tanzania (58th).
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