Which countries are preferred destinations for expats?

Which are the countries expats dream of and which dreams turn into nightmares?

Two remarkable videos on this topic:

Could 12.000 expats be wrong?

If you’re planning a move abroad, you have a lot of great destinations to choose from so it might be hard to make a decision!

One way to narrow down the list is to look at what other expats have to say about the countries where they currently live.  Each year, "InterNations" conducts a survey and for 2023, they asked 12,000 expats in 171 countries what they think about their home away from home. This is NOT a sponsor. We’re just using their survey to look at the top 10 best places for expats and we’ll let you know what we think about them. Eight of these countries are a real possibility, but 2 were really surprising to us.

Spoiler alert: You can find the lists from both videos in the discussion paragraph.

10 Countries People Regret Moving To in 2024.

Uncover the 10 countries that individuals regret relocating to in 2024 in our newest YouTube upload. Learn about the challenges faced by expats and the factors contributing to their dissatisfaction. The N°1 is shocking. Labels: #ExpatRegrets #GlobalRelocation #2024

While we do our best to provide you with the most accurate information. These are after all just our take based on data we analyzed. You should make your own decisions based on your own experiences by visiting the places we talk about!

* * * * *

Spoiler alert: don't read any further unless you opt out viewing any of the videos

* * * * *

Discussion

Preferred destinations for expats are following:

1 Mexico

2 Spain

3 Panama

4 Malaysia

5 Taiwan

6 Thailand

7 Costa Rica

8 Philipines

9 Bahrain

10 Portugal

Presumably US citizens may be overrepresented in the respondents to the sample of 12.000 expats. More generally: native English speakers are probably overrepresented.

'Expats' is also a very generic term, which covers a wide range of people. 

1. They can be working in the country of destination, mostly project based labour in construction or seasonal workers. 
2. They may also be remote workers who only need a laptop and fast internet to continue their business and earn an income from their country of origin.
3. They may work for an international organization, hosted in their destination country.
4. Finally they may also be retirees, wishing to live their golden years abroad, preferably in a country with a lower cost of living.

The line between 'expat' and 'immigrant' is kind of thin. An expat would typically be either a remote worker or on a short stay in a foreign country. An immigrant has a residence permit and would typically seek permanent employment in the destination country and settle there with his family. The labour market in the destination country and the ease of access will determine whether an immigrant will prosper and be inclined to stay. 

The word 'immigrant' has gotten a bad reputation by including asylum seekers, refugees and illegals. The word 'expat' on the contrary has a better reputation than it deserves, since its use is mainly restricted to or reserved for white Americans, Europeans and people from European descent.

The short time horizon for many expats may hamper their integrating into local society and their feeling at home in the country of destination. This also fosters clustering in a social circle with other expats. This brings us seamlessly to following:

Here is the list of countries expats regret having moved to:

1 Japan
2 Mexico
3 Vietnam
4 Belarus
5 China
6 Canada
7 US
8 UK
9 Brazil
10 France

Remarkable is that Mexico figures high in both lists. There are definitely mixed feelings about moving to Mexico. It is also a large country with quite a few crime hot-spots along the drug traffic and migration routes to the US. Settling elsewhere most probably will live up to expectations.

I've watched similar video of 15 countries where expats regret having moved to. Other than the above (and sorted differently), India, South-Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, and Italy also make it to the selection. The first three are even classified the top-3 worst countries according to expats. Presumably the cut-off number for respondents was set lower for this analysis, with the five extra countries based on less observations. The altered top-3 worst countries according responding expats may very well be significant, whereas the two extra (Indonesia and Italy classified lower) may rather be a statistical glitch.

The prominent first place for Japan is a language and cultural issue. Contrary to what many people think, most inhabitants of Japan have but a poor command of English. Signs and written language are illegible for westerners who don't speak the language. Japanese is notoriously difficult to learn for speakers of any Western language.

Moreover Japan is the typical example of a society with 'high context' communication:

The differentiation between high and low context cultures is meant to highlight differences in verbal and nonverbal communication. High-context cultures will use communication that focuses on underlying context, meaning, and tone in the message, and not just the words themselves.

Countries pertaining to this category are Japan, China, and to a lesser extent many countries where a romance language is spoken: France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and more.

On the flipside, low-context cultures expect communications to be explicitly stated so that there’s no risk of confusion, and if a message isn’t clear enough, it will slow down the process of communication. In the most extreme cases, leaving any sort of wiggle room for interpretation can be disastrous.

Some of the cultures that fall into the category of low-context communication are the United States, the UK,  and Australia.