Revealed: 10 types of expats that roam the world

InterNations, the world’s largest expat network, has conducted the Expat Insider Survey 2014 – taken by about 14,000 expatriates.

It aims to provide a comprehensive picture of life abroad: Focusing on the general quality of life, it identifies the most popular expat destinations.

Topics covered include work, family, relationships and romance, leisure, and personal finances.

As an essential part of the survey, respondents rated their satisfaction with various aspects of expat life. This served as the basis for an overall ranking of 61 countries, as well as five topical indices.

The survey report also features detailed country profiles for 20 destinations and 15 in-depth nationality profiles. An “expat typology”, according to reasons for relocating, rounds out the report.

Why the UAE

The UAE has much to offer expats, according to the survey. In the UAE, expats find something even more precious than the City of Gold, they find a place to raise their children.

Click to enlarge graphic below:

More than four in five survey participants (82 per cent) feel there is a friendly attitude toward families, and roughly the same number report that they believe their children are safe and healthy (81 per cent).

The friendliness of the population is another factor.

More than three-fifths of expats living in the UAE (63 per cent) consider the local population quite friendly towards foreigners.

Perhaps this is one reason why 61 per cent of expats in the UAE report feeling quite at home in the local culture.

Thus, in the UAE even the soft, hot sand seems to provide a solid foundation on which to build a life.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.