Why UAE remains among the world's best expat havens

The 2018 HSBC Expat Explorer Survey ranks the UAE among the world's Top 10 destinations for expats to live, work, earn, spend and save.

For anyone living and working in the UAE, the news that the UAE finds pride of place among the top countries in the world for expats shouldn't come as a surprise. The annual HSBC Expat Explorer Survey is out, and the 2018 edition once again ranks the UAE among the world's Top 10 destinations for expats to live, work, earn, spend and save. While the UAE is ranked No. 10 in the overall expat rankings, it is third-best in the world for expats' wage-growth, which should put a few things in perspective.
A section of UAE expats may not have seen much wage growth last year, but those who received a pay rise seem to have pushed the average high enough for the country to be in the Top 3 among the 31 expat havens ranked. It also sheds light on the 2018 global wage growth (or lack of it). Singapore tops the overall rankings followed by New Zealand, Germany, Canada and Bahrain. On the other end of the spectrum are Brazil (#31), Japan (#30), South Africa (#29), Philippines (#28) and China (#27).
With wage growth, the UAE also remains ahead on expats' savings potential (No. 2 in the world) and disposable income (#4 in the world). Some of the other factors that make the UAE an expat haven are safety (#6), buying and renting property (#6), and quality of life for expat kids (#11). What drags down the UAE's overall ranking is (no surprise here, either) the overall cost of raising children (education and healthcare), where it ranks the worst in the world. A separate HSBC survey on the cost of education already pegs UAE schools as among the second most expensive in the world (after Hong Kong). Nevertheless, the UAE offers the right opportunities in career, family life and overall lifestyle for it to remain an expat magnet and among the best in the world.