Where to go for the highest possible expat paycheck

If it’s all about the money, you’ll need to know the best destinations for the highest salaries.

According to the latest survey, simply moving overseas adds at least $21,000 a year to expat professionals’ take-home pay, with the best-paid of all found in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the USA. The recently released HSBC Expat Explorer survey concluded that just under half of expat respondents said their new jobs paid more internationally, with 28 per cent actually changing their personal locations in order to get a promotion. Switzerland won out in spite of its cost of living reaching higher than its Alpine mountain range, with an annual salary increase of $61,000. Overall, average expat salaries came in at an astounding $230,000 annually – twice the global level,

As regards the perfect expat lifestyle, Singapore took top spot as ‘best place to live and work’ for the fourth year running, beating out Canada, Germany and New Zealand. In this category, Switzerland came in at eighth due to its unfriendly locals and high cost of childcare and education. According to HSBC, Singapore may be a small package but it contains everything necessary to enhance expatriate lives. If gender equality is important, Sweden is the place to head for, especially if family is coming too, and the experience category featured Taiwan, Spain and New Zealand in the top three.

As usual, female expat professionals trailed behind their male counterparts on several varied metrics, even although relocation boosted their incomes by around 27 per cent. Only 25 per cent took relocation as a career move and half of the female respondents were more than happy to just work part-time. Female expats’ salaries averaged $42,000 lower than that of their male equivalents and their overall education level was also lower.