Saigon becomes a top expat destination. Affordable housing and cheap cost of living have made Saigon a top 10 destination of choice for expats.
Ho Chi Minh City has claimed fourth position on the 2018 Expat City Ranking by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad.
Affordability of housing and low cost of living are major draws that pushed Saigon ahead of other Asian metropolises like Tokyo (38th), Seoul (41st), Shanghai (45th) and Hong Kong (49th).
In compiling the rankings, InterNations invited more than 18,000 expats from 187 countries and territories to share their opinions (a Bangkok Jack Report) on the city they were currently living in, in terms of their satisfaction with quality of urban living, getting settled, urban work life, finances, housing.
Cost of Living
Most expats in Vietnam felt satisfied with the lower cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City that helped them to balance the books and ease the financial burden of living overseas.
Of the expats questioned, 77 percent said they found it easy to find low-cost housing in Saigon, well above the global average of 37 percent.
More than four in five expats, or 82 percent, also said they have enjoyed the best cost of living.
Taipei has been named as the best choice to live for expats in the global ranking, followed by Singapore and Panama.
The rest of the top 10 comprise Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Aachen, Prague, Madrid, and Muscat.
New York came in 46th. The worst cities for expats, languishing at the bottom of the rankings, were Stockholm, London, Paris, Dublin, Stuttgart, Johannesburg and Milan, the survey found.
Around 82,000 foreigners live and work in Vietnam. Recent surveys have shown that the country is a good place for foreigners to settle.
A recent survey done by Go Overseas, a U.S.-based listing and reviews site for programs abroad, revealed that Vietnam was among the world’s nine countries paying the highest salaries for ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers.
With data updated until May this year, the survey found that a foreign English teacher can earn from VND22.7 million to VND45.5 million ($1,000 to $2,000) a month in Vietnam.
The InterNations’ 2018 Expat Insider survey, published in March this year, ranked Vietnam among the 10 friendliest places on earth for expats.
An annual HSBC survey published last month ranked Vietnam 16th in the world for expat earnings at an annual average of $90,408, which is around 40 times higher than the per capita income of Vietnam at $2,385 last year.
