Back on Top: Taiwan
Since first featuring in the survey in 2016, Taiwan has consistently ranked in the top 5. In 2019, it manages to reclaim first place. Taiwan offers a great quality of life (3rd out of 64 destinations), favourable personal finances (6th), an impressive working life (8th), and good results for ease of settling in (14th). However, with only 9% of respondents raising children in 2019, there were not enough expat parents for Taiwan to rank in the Family Life Index.
Nearly all expats in Taiwan rate the quality (92%) and affordability (89%) of medical care positively — no other destination has performed better for either factor since Taiwan entered the survey. “The health insurance system and safety are what makes Taiwan attractive to me,” shares an Indian respondent. This is only somewhat offset by the mediocre result for the quality of the environment (35th). For more details on Taiwan and the Quality of Life Index, please refer to the in-depth article.
Taiwan’s economy is not as strong as it used to be.
Taiwan has lost some ground in the Working Abroad Index to rank 8th out of 64 in 2019, following its 2nd place out of 68 in 2018. While an above-average share of expats (73% vs. 63% globally) regard the economy positively, 81% said so in 2018. “The economy is not as strong as it used to be,” shares an expat from New Zealand. Similarly, satisfaction with job security has fallen by ten percentage points (66% vs. 76% in 2018). Taiwan does well for career prospects (2nd), job satisfaction (8th), work-life balance (16th), and working hours (18th), though.
An above-average 73% rate the cost of living favorably (vs. 47% globally). A similar share (74%) are satisfied with their financial situation, ranking Taiwan sixth for this factor. It also lands in sixth place in the Personal Finance Index overall.
Taiwan ranks 14th in the Ease of Settling In Index, its worst result. Expats struggle with the local language (38th), while praising the friendliness (4th). All in all, 86% are generally satisfied with their life in Taiwan.
Read the original article on https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/2019/best-and-worst-places-for-expats-39829