Where do UAE expats come from (and why)?

The UAE is an amazing melting pot of cultures, with nationals of more than 200 countries calling it home.

It is indeed one of the few countries in the world where expats outnumber the local citizens by a wide margin.

As a global hub for professionals and a growing regional economy, the UAE continues to draw in career-minded expats and ranks #16 out of 37 countries in the 2013 Expat Economics league tables by HSBC bank.

This is demonstrated by expats’ earnings, with 70 per cent of expats saying they earn more than they do in their home country against a global average of 53 per cent.

In fact, according to the HSBC survey, 80 per cent of UAE expats are satisfied with the state of the local economy – compared to only 56 per cent globally.

With zero income tax in the country, it is no surprise that nearly six in 10 (58 per cent) expats associate the UAE with low income tax compared to a global average of 27 per cent.

Click on the picture to expand:

Infographic courtesy www.currencyfair.com

As is the case with other Gulf countries, the UAE tends to attract a high proportion of young expats. Half of expats (51 per cent) are aged between 18 and 35, compared to a global average of only 37 per cent.

This young lot of expats is ambitious, and a majority of them (60 per cent) move to the UAE for better job prospects, compared to 36 per cent globally.

The UAE ranks higher than some other Gulf countries for Expat Experience. While once parents complained of high cost of international standard educational institutes, the UAE is improving as a place to bring up children, scoring #13 out of 24 in the Raising Children Abroad league tables, with seven in 10 (72 per cent) feeling that their children are safer in the UAE compared to a global average of 57 per cent.

Some more challenging aspects of having children in the UAE include the cost, with almost half (48 per cent) of expats in the UAE spending more on education for their children and 42 per cent spending more on childcare compared to a global average of 25 and 21 per cent, respectively.

A strong economy and increasingly vibrant atmosphere continues to make the UAE one of the most popular expat destinations, with 59 per cent of expats saying their host country is becoming a better place for expats to live.

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