Vietnam's Expats - Highest Disposable Income

Vietnam is one of the top 20 places to live and work as an expat, according to HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer Survey. But, while it’s rated first in terms of disposable income and savings, Vietnam ranks low for quality of expat life.

The survey, which was completed by more than 22,000 expats worldwide, looks at topics including personal finance, work-life balance, and the overall cost of raising children. As well as being listed in three league tables – Economics, Experience and Family – countries are given an overall global ranking.

Vietnam is ranked 19th in the world, which is a rise of four places from 2017. It is 10th in the league table for economics, 17th for experience, and 26th for family.

According to the report, expats are drawn to Vietnam by the culture and the low cost of living. The country is ranked first in terms of disposable income and savings, and it is placed 10th worldwide in terms of economic confidence. However, 25% of expats said organising their finances in Vietnam was difficult during their early experience as an expat. This figure rose to 29% for expats earning more than USD 200,000 a year.

Expat families give Vietnam a low score for quality of life, childcare and healthcare – and it is ranked 29th for the quality of education. There is a growing number of international schools in Vietnam, all of which are less than 30 years old; global school groups such as Nord Anglia and Cognita have opened campuses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as more expats move to the country.

Looking for more information about how to get a place at an international school in Vietnam? Click here.

Singapore was named the best place in the world for expats to live and work for the fourth year running; New Zealand, Germany, Canada and Bahrain were named as the next best expat destinations in the league’s top five. In other parts of Asia, Malaysia jumped 10 places from 2017 to be ranked 15th, Hong Kong was 17th, and Thailand was 21st.