THE Philippines ranks eighth among the top 10 best places for expatriates, offering a comfortable lifestyle especially for retirees, with locals who are welcoming.
According to InterNations’ Expat Insider Report 2023, an annual comprehensive survey of expats living and working abroad, Mexico, Spain, and Panama are the top three best places for expats, while Turkey, Norway, and Kuwait are the three worst places for expats. The survey results are based on factors such as quality of life, ease of settling in, career prospects in working abroad, personal finance, and expat essentials like digital connections.
While the Philippines ranks poorly in terms of quality of life, working abroad, and average in providing essentials to expats, the country ranks third in the ease in settling in and personal finance indexes.
“Nearly nine in 10 expats [86 percent] rate the general friendliness of the local residents positively, close to 20 percentage points more than the global average of 67 percent. About three in five [58 percent] even say it is very good [vs. 30 percent globally]. The destination has always performed well when it comes to the topic of finding friends. Over seven in 10 expats in the Philippines [72 percent] say it is really easy to make local friends there [vs. 43 percent globally]. Close to twice the global average even could not agree more [27 percent vs. 15 globally]. In fact, 44 percent share that their friends are mainly locals [vs. 17 globally].”
‘Friendly people, relaxed lifestyle’
It added that 79 percent of the expats feel at home in the Philippines against 62 percent globally, and 88 percent feel welcome here, versus the global average of 67 percent. One American expat said: “What I like best about the Philippines are the friendly people and the relaxed lifestyle.”
In the Personal Finance index, 75 percent of the expats here “are generally satisfied with their financial situation (vs. 58 percent globally), and 36 percent even completely so (vs. 21 percent globally). Similarly, 74 percent rate the cost of living favorably (vs. 44 percent globally). Close to four in 10 (38 percent) say it is very good (vs. 13 percent globally).” Said a Dutch expat, “I can do fun things with my daughter without breaking the bank.”
The survey also showed 66 percent of expats said their disposable household income “is more than enough to lead a comfortable life [vs. 44 percent globally]. According to 21 percent, it is even a lot more than enough [vs. 6 percent].”
In the Working Abroad index, the country ranked ninth in terms of work and leisure, but 51st in terms of career prospects. Still, “expats in the Philippines see a purpose in their work [87 percent vs. 78 percent globally] and are overall happy with their jobs [72 percent vs. 64 percent globally].”
More move for love, not work
Among the major reasons expats have moved to the Philippines are romantic reasons (22 percent vs. 10 percent globally), instead of job-related reasons (22 percent vs. 35 percent globally). “Only around a third of expats [34 percent] are doing paid work [vs. 69 percent globally]. In fact, almost half [48 percent] are retired [vs. 11 percent globally]. Still, of the few that are working, 29 percent are top managers/executives [vs. 12 percent globally].”
There were 12,065 expats with an average age of 46.2 years surveyed for this report. They represent 171 nationalities living in 172 countries worldwide, 50 percent of whom are male and 49 percent are female. At least 82 percent of the expats have a university degree, 57 percent are in a relationship and the rest are single, with only 20 percent having dependent children living abroad.
Majority of the expats surveyed are US Americans, British, Indians, Germans, Italians, French, Canadians, Dutch, Filipinos, and Turkish. Most countries these expats live in are Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Switzerland, France, the UK, Netherlands, Italy, and Canada. InterNations is the largest resource for expats with more than 4.8 million members in 420 cities around the world.
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