Hong Kong ranks 46th out of 50 in the Expat City Ranking 2022 by InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with over 4.5 million members. Expats are especially disappointed with the Quality of Life in Hong Kong and rank the city in the bottom 5 in this index (46th). Their low satisfaction with the air quality and the urban environment greatly impacts this ranking. Expats are also very unhappy with the work culture and job security in Hong Kong, which leads to a position in the bottom 10 of the Working Abroad Index (43rd) as well. While the city offers some highlights when it comes to public transportation and personal support networks, it is the worst city worldwide (50th) for general satisfaction with life abroad.
The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations. It is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, with 11,970 respondents in 2022. A total of 50 cities around the globe are featured this year, offering in-depth information about five areas of expat life: Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, Personal Finance, and the new Expat Essentials Index, which covers digital life, admin topics, housing, and language.
Hong Kong ranks 46th out of 50 cities in the Expat City Ranking 2022. It is the city where expats are overall unhappiest with their life abroad: 32% are generally unhappy, compared to 13% globally. One reason for this could be the low Quality of Life, with Hong Kong ranking 46th in this index. Expats find it to be lacking when it comes to the Environment & Climate (47th). Over half (56%) are unhappy with the city’s air quality, nearly three times the global average (19%). “There are all kinds of pollution,” reports a Taiwanese expat. The city even ranks last worldwide (50th) when it comes to the availability of green goods and services, such as renewable energy, organic food, and sustainable products. Additionally, 42% of expats feel that the government does not support policies to protect the environment (vs. 18% globally). Expats also rank Hong Kong last worldwide (50th) for its political stability, and only 28% feel that they can openly express themselves and their opinions, less than half the global average (64%).
On the positive side, not one respondent is unhappy with the availability of public transportation (vs. 17% globally), while 76% are very satisfied with this factor (vs. 43% globally). “There are excellent public transportation options,” notes an expat from the United States. Expats also rank the city fifth for the affordability of public transportation (93% happy vs. 70% globally).
The Working Abroad Index (43rd) is a low point for Hong Kong. Expats are especially disappointed with the Work & Leisure Subcategory (48th). The city ranks second to last (49th) for working hours – only Istanbul (50th) performs worse for this factor — and 48th for work-life balance. Hong Kong also ranks among the bottom 10 in the Salary & Job Security (43rd) and Work Culture & Satisfaction (44th) Subcategories: nearly three in ten expats (28%) feel that the business culture does not encourage flexibility (vs. 19% globally), and 46% say that it does not encourage creativity (vs. 26% globally).
The city ranks midfield in the Ease of Settling In Index (25th). A particular highlight in this index: over two in three expats (68%) feel that they have a personal support network in Hong Kong (vs. 59% globally), which places the city 4th for this factor. Lastly, Hong Kong receives mixed results in the Expat Essentials Index (35th). While 60% of expats say that the local language is difficult to learn (vs. 38% globally), 86% of expats agree that it is easy to live in Hong Kong without speaking it (vs. 51% globally).
While nearly two in three (66%) consider it easy for expats to find housing (vs. 54% globally), 89% find it unaffordable (vs. 43% globally). Affordability seems to be a general problem, as the city ranks 46th for general cost of living. Accordingly, Hong Kong only places 39th in the Personal Finance Index.
About the Expat City Ranking 2022
The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations. For the survey, InterNations asked 11,970 expats representing 177 nationalities and living in 181 countries or territories to provide information on various aspects of expat life, as well as their gender, age, and nationality. In addition to their satisfaction with life in their host country, respondents were also invited to share their opinions on the city they are currently living in.
Participants were asked to rate up to 56 different aspects of urban life abroad on a scale of one to seven. The rating process emphasized their personal satisfaction with these aspects, considering both emotional topics and more factual aspects with equal weight. The individual factors were then
bundled in various combinations for a total of 16 subcategories, and their mean values were used to draw up five topical indices: Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, Personal Finance, and Expat Essentials. These were further averaged — together with the responses to the question “All things considered, how happy are you with your life abroad in general?” — to create the Expat City Ranking. In 2022, the top 10 cities for expats are Valencia (1st), Dubai, Mexico City, Lisbon, Madrid, Bangkok, Basel, Melbourne, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore (10th).
For a city to be featured in the Expat City Ranking 2022, a sample size of at least 50 survey participants per destination was required. In total, 50 cities met this requirement.
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