The laid back Kiwi lifestyle has pushed New Zealand up the ranks as one of the top places to live and work for expats.
New Zealand was voted second-best country by people temporarily working and living abroad. The country ranked highly for entrepreneurship, quality of life and work-life balance, this year’s HSBC Expat Explorer survey showed.
It was second only to Singapore, which ranked far higher than New Zealand in disposable income, wage growth and savings.
Career progression, safety, social life, school quality and childcare quality were also ranked higher in Singapore than in New Zealand.
But the Asian economic powerhouse could not beat the Kiwi experience. The report showed almost 60 per cent of expats in New Zealand said they were more physically active than at home, and more than half surveyed believed their health had improved since moving.
More than three-quarters of expats said their overall quality of life in New Zealand was better than at home and 71 per cent have taken advantage of this by staying in the country for five years or more.
The HSBC survey was now in its eighth year and had responses from more than 21,000 expats.
Recent travel and migration data from Statistics New Zealand proved New Zealand’s popularity as a destination for migrants, with figures showing a record net gain of 60,300 migrants in the year to August 2015.
Migrant arrivals continued to reach a new high, up 13 per cent from the August 2014 year while migrant departures were down 5 per cent.
The increase was led by people arriving from India, Australia, China and the Philippines.
The top 10:
1. Singapore
2. New Zealand
3. Sweden
4. Bahrain
5. Germany
6. Canada
7. Australia
8. Taiwan
9. United Arab Emirates
10. Switzerland