Expats Continue Love Affair with the Middle East

Expat Globe

HSBC has released its much respected and anticipated Expat Explorer study and there are, as ever, some fascinating insights for the expat community.

In a continuing trend, the Middle East has remained a favoured spot for people looking to relocate abroad with a positive economic outlook, favourable climate, greater financial rewards and low taxation attracting expats in ever greater numbers.

The data from the HSBC study shows that, “Expats in Oman (90%), Qatar (89%) and Saudi Arabia (83%) report a much higher satisfaction level with the state of their current economy than expats across the world (59%).”

All over the Middle East expats are attracted by the opportunities for career progression with this being the “key driver for expats heading to Qatar (77%), Saudi Arabia (76%), Bahrain (74%) and the UAE (65%).“

Unlike expats heading to traditional retirement spots like Spain or the south of France, many of the influx to the Middle East have been young professionals and families with Saudi Arabia boasting that “nearly half (46%) of expats heading to the region are in the young working age demographic (18-34 years old), with less than one in ten (8%) aged over 55. The ages of expats heading to the region are in stark contrast to the make-up of expats worldwide, where 32% of expats are aged 18-34 and 22% are over 55.”