The World's Friendliest Countries

In the December 1, 2009 Forbes article "World's Friendliest Countries," Rebecca Ruiz reports on a survey of 3,100 expatriates that ranks countries by friendliness.

The Middle East has long had a reputation for being one of the world's perennial trouble spots. But for expatriates, the tiny Persian Gulf county Bahrain ranks as one of the most welcoming places to work.

That's the surprising result of a new survey of 3,100 expatriates conducted by HSBC Bank. Bahrain ranked first in one key measure of how easy it is for expatriates to set up a new life for their families. It received high marks from expats who like the country's easy access to modern health care, decent and affordable housing, and network of social groups that expatriates can join.

Canada, which ranked first in a similar survey last year, fell to second place on HSBC's integration score, which measures how easily foreigners and their families can settle into a new country. Australia, Thailand and Malaysia rounded out the top five. Foreign workers in these countries found it easy to make local friends and said they enjoyed a higher quality of life than in their native countries.

Behind the Numbers

HSBC's Expat Explorer survey was conducted between February and April 2009. Survey respondents were from the U.S., Europe and elsewhere and lived in more than two dozen countries and on four continents. They ranked their new homes based on 23 factors, including food, entertainment, health care, commute and education. Of those measures, HSBC selected eight to create its so-called "integration score," a snapshot of which countries are most welcoming to expats.

It is possible that Bahrain's first-place finish is a fluke. Only 31 expats working in Bahrain participated in the survey, vs. more than 450 respondents from the United Kingdom. Bahrain ranked as the best country to join local community groups and coordinate health care. Respondents found it less easy to make local friends and learn the languages (Arabic, Farsi and Urdu), but the country ranked in the top five when it came to finding a home, setting up finances, and finding good schools.

The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom received some of the poorest scores on the integration scale. Expats in the Emirates reported finding it difficult to join local community groups; only 39% of respondents made local friends compared to 76% of respondents living in other countries. Foreign workers in England complained about the challenges of finding affordable housing.

Suzanne Garber, COO of the Americas Region for International SOS, a firm that provides medical and logistical assistance to overseas employees, says surveys like these give potential expats an overarching view of living in various countries.

But she says that family life is the leading indicator of whether or not an expat assignment will be successful. Many overseas stints end prematurely because an employee's family feels disconnected from the new country and has trouble handling basic tasks like refilling prescriptions, driving around town or dealing with the local police.

"The concerns are pretty much the same no matter where you are," says Garber. "You have to make sure the family's life is stable and secure."

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Rank - Country - Making Friends - Making Local Friends - Joining Community Groups - Organizing School For My Children - Organizing My Finances - Organizing My Health Care - Finding Somewhere To Live - Setting Up Utilities
1 Bahrain 5 20 1 5 3 1 2 4
2 Canada 11 2 3 6 7 8 5 2
3 Australia 10 6 9 7 1 7 11 5
4 Thailand 1 16 18 4 11 2 1 9
5 Malaysia 4 14 19 1 3 3 4 13
6 South Africa 6 2 8 3 14 6 3 14
7 Hong Kong 3 17 12 17 2 5 8 3
8 Singapore 7 18 24 13 6 4 13 1
9 Spain 12 8 13 18 10 9 7 8
10 United States 15 7 4 12 20 24 10 7

Methodology

The Expat Explorer survey was commissioned by HSBC Bank International and conducted by the research company FreshMinds. More than 3,100 expatriates were surveyed between February and April 2009.The respondents were asked to rate 23 factors related to their quality of life, including food, entertainment, transportation, health care, finances, education and their ability to make friends. Each criterion is equally weighted to arrive at a score. The overall ranking is based on the average score for a country across the criteria. Eight measures were also selected to comprise the integration score: organizing school for my children; organizing my finances; organizing my health care; finding somewhere to live; making friends; making local friends; setting up utilities; and joining local community groups. The integration score was used to determine the friendliest countries.

Study: Australians Have the World's Biggest Homes

In the December 1, 2009 Reuters article "Study: Australians Have the World's Biggest Homes," Belinda Goldsmith reports that "Australia has overtaken the United States, the heartland of the McMansion, to boast the world's largest homes, according to a report by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia."

Research commissioned by the bank's broking arm, CommSec, shows the Australian house has grown on average by 10 percent in the past decade to 214.6 square meters (2,310 sq ft) -- nearly three times the size of the average British house.

By contrast, the average size of new homes started in the United States in the September quarter was 201.5 square meter (2,169 sq ft), down from 212 square meter (2,282 sq ft), with the average U.S. home shrinking for the first time in a decade due to the recession.

In Europe, Denmark has the biggest homes, which takes into account houses and flats, with an average floor area of 137 square meter, followed by Greece at 126 square meter, and the Netherlands at 115.5 square meter.

Homes in Britain are the smallest in Europe at 76 square meter. But according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistic issued by CommSec, while Australian houses are getting bigger, so are the families.

The number of people in each household has risen to 2.56 from 2.51, the first such rise in at least 100 years.

"It makes sense. Population is rising, as is the cost of housing and the cost of moving house, so we are making greater use of what we've got," CommSec's Craig James said in a statement widely reported in the Australian media.

"Children are living at home longer with parents and more people are opting for shared accommodation ... Generation Y is already baulking at the cost of housing, choosing to stay at home longer with parents."