The latest part of HSBC's 2010 Expat Explorer Survey, Expat Experiences, has been released, and it shows that some of expats main worries stem from emotional matters.
According to the report emotional issues such as making friends and settling in weigh more on the minds of expats than practical issues. The number one reason for mental anguish was re-establishing a social life, with 41 percent of the respondents citing it as a concern. Next, with 34 percent, was loneliness and missing family and friends back home.
The survey found that people who moved to Middle East destinations such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar generally suffered less emotional stress, which can be accounted for by the fact that all those destinations scored well on the social life rankings, coming 1st, 10th and 12th respectively.
However expats in places like Canada and Australia were more prone to missing family and friends, perhaps due to the large distance between these countries and the United Kingdom, which is where the majority of expats in those countries, 70 percent and 62 percent respectively, came from.
Lisa Wood, Head of Customer Propositions at HSBC Bank International, said: “It is important for expats to assess what they are hoping to achieve from their move before relocating".