The mixed fortunes of expat life in Russia

Life may not be easy for expats in Russia but at least the country is easy to make new friends in.

The HSBC expat experience survey ranked Russia just two points from bottom place out of 26 nations when it comes to quality of life, but by contrast was ranked fourth easiest to make new friends, especially with the locals.

The HSBC survey looked at 26 of the main expat destinations and examined a range of some 25 daily factors including food, accommodation, social life and ease of financial organisation.

On the down side, Russia came stone cold last in terms of enrolling children at a new school and establishing finances. Its healthcare system was ranked 25th and commuting experience at 23rd, with an overall placing of 24th out of the 26 countries surveyed. The ranking was also hampered by poor scores in utility set-up (25th) and ease of finding an apartment (23rd). Russia did manage to beat out India and Qatar which came 25th and 26th respectively. The poll was topped by Canada from Australia and Thailand.

The most valuable asset may well be its people as most expats have said that making friends in Russia is comparatively easy. Normally expats are drawn to fellow expats, the exceptions being Brazil, Canada, South Africa, India and Russia which all ranked above 90 percent when it comes to integrating into the local community and making local friends.

A further result of the friendly local attitudes is that expat Russians are among those most likely to stay abroad for a long time.

The reports also revealed that one-third of expats in Russia make more than $250,000 each year with almost half making $200,000 – the highest wage earnings of expats anywhere.