Cost of living crisis: NZ voted second worst country to move to

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022, 3:46PM

New Zealand has been voted the second worst country in the world to move to, according to a survey to immigrants in different spots around the world.

In a survey conducted to nearly 12,000 immigrants, of 177 nationalities and living in 181 countries, expat network InterNations found that Mexico tops the list of the best country to live as an expat, while New Zealand ranked second worst, beating only Kuwait.

Survey respondents ranked their new countries based on criteria such as cost of living, safety, bureaucracy, quality of life, and others.

The answers from 12,000 people were compiled into the ranking of 52 countries - the ones for which they had a large enough sample size.

While Aotearoa ranked 51 out of 52, our transtasman neighbours received a very decent ninth place, with people living there feeling that, overall, they receive fair compensation for their work, among other positive factors.

New Zealand's 51st place in the survey was mostly due to lower wages and high cost of living.

In fact, when it came to the personal finance measures in the survey, the country was the worst performer out of all: 49 per cent of respondents said their disposable household income was not enough to lead a comfortable life - as opposed to 28 per cent globally.

Overall, 35 per cent of expats said they were unhappy with the cost of living in their country, but dissatisfaction jumped to 75 per cent when it came to New Zealand, making it the worst country to move to in terms of personal finance.

Aotearoa did not fare well when it came to working life, with respondents stating they do not feel like they are paid fairly and not like their working hours. They also reported concerns about a "growing divide between the rich and poor".

The only metric in which New Zealand ranked in the top half of countries was environment and climate.

The expatriate networking organisation InterNations surveyed nearly 12,000 respondents of 177 different nationalities, living in 181 countries. Respondents were asked how their new homes performed on factors including quality of life, cost of living, safety, financial outlook, bureaucracy and ease of fitting in.

The Expat Insider survey is conducted by InterNations every year.

The top 10 countries to move to according to the survey are: