Singapore may hold the dubious title of “most expensive city in the world,” but it remains the most popular place for expats to live and work, according to an annual survey of expats released by HSBC.

Expats praised the city-state for its appealing salaries, career development opportunities and quality of life. And despite the eye-watering cost of living day-to-day in Singapore (including transport costs three times that of New York), more than a quarter of its expats who responded to the 2015 Expat Explorer survey said they earned more than US$200,000 per annum (compared to just 13 percent of expats globally).

A salary increase or chance to get ahead in a career are often the big incentives to move abroad, but an increasing number of expats are traveling to new countries for personal rather than financial reasons, the HSBC study found.

Three in five of the people surveyed said they had not experienced an immediate increase in their pay, but more than half, 53 percent, said their quality of life had improved after moving.

Destinations where expats were most likely to have relocated in order to improve well-being were New Zealand, Spain and Portugal, while Sweden was the most appealing for expats with families, thanks to ample childcare options and the relative ease of organizing schools.

A total of 21,950 people from 39 countries responded to HSBC’s 2015 survey. The bank asked them to share their views on everything from career and financial well-being to quality of life.

New Zealand, Sweden, Bahrain and Germany rounded out the top five overall expat destinations, while Egypt, Italy and Brazil were at the bottom of the pack.

The best benefit packages still come from a placement in the Middle East. Some 80 percent of expats surveyed in Oman received airfare allowances for trips home, and in Qatar 75 percent received an accommodation allowance. The global average for both measures was 33 percent.

Contractual benefits in locations outside the Middle East were less common. Just over half of global expats received health and medical allowances and over a fifth were given a relocation allowance.

新加坡可能在很多人心中是“世界上最高消费城市”，这样的名声固然不太好，但它还是最受侨民欢迎的工作和生活地 — 一份汇丰银行发布的关于侨民的年度报告显示。

侨民认为这个国家的薪水、职业发展机会和生活质量颇具吸引力，尽管在新加坡的日常消费让人难以接受（交通费用是纽约的三倍），参与2015年度《移居者探索调查》的侨民中，超过25%的人表示他们在这里每年能赚超过二十万美元（全球只有大约13%的侨民达到这个水平）。

升职加薪通常是移居国外的最大动

力，但汇丰银行调查发现，越来越多人出于个人原因，而非经济原因，移居另一个国家。五分之三的受访者表示他们移居后薪水并没有立刻增加，但超过半数（53%）表示，他们的生活质量大有改善。

为了提升生活的幸福感的人大都将定居地选在新西兰，西班牙和葡萄牙。而瑞典则更受携家眷一起移居的人们欢迎，这里有许多照看儿童的机构，给孩子找学校也相对容易。

来自39个国家的21,950位受访者参与了汇丰银行2015年度的调查。调查内容包括他们对职业发展、经济福利和生活质量等方面的看法。位列前五的国家还有新西兰、瑞典、巴林和德国，埃及、意大利和巴西则排名倒数。

最好的福利待遇来自中东国家。调查中80%移居阿曼的人获得回家的机票补贴，75%移居卡塔尔的人获得住房补贴。全球范围内获得以上两种津贴的人约占33%。

在中东之外的国家，合同津贴就不那么常见。全球大约只有一半的侨民获得健康医疗津贴，大约五分之一的人获得海外派遣补贴。

Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【有吸引力的】yǒu xīyǐnlì de appealing evoking or attracting interest, desire, curiosity, sympathy, or the like, attractive

    【补齐】bǔqí round out round up (a number)