Shouldn’t we all be working in Mumbai instead?

Posted on: 10th April 2018 in Finance

Shouldn’t we all be working in Mumbai instead?

Expats living in Asia’s most populous city top the global earnings table, according to HSBC’s influential Expat Explorer survey. Dubai expats rank a surprisingly low number 11th. Foreigners amongst the 18m strong population of Mumbai earn on average $217k, pipping San Francisco expats into second place on the global league table with an average of $207k. Mumbai was joined in the top ten global salary rankings by 3 other Asian metropolises: Shanghai, Jakarta and Hong Kong. But if you want job prospects rather than a fat salary, say Bloomberg, head for the UK and the USA: “While expats in Asia were generally well compensated financially, all – including Mumbai, the megacity home to more than 18 million people – ranked lower in expat job opportunities than U.K. and U.S. destinations such as London, San Francisco, New York, or even Birmingham, according to HSBC.”  

Dubai expats – how are we doing?

Dubai expats earn an average of $138k according to the HSBC survey, which interviewed 27,000+ expats across 159 global locations last year. The global expat average was $99.9k. Dubai ranked fifth-best city in the world for leisure facilities. 22% of Dubai expats agreed that the city offers “fantastic job opportunities” – compared to a 23% figure for Zurich, Manchester and Riyadh. Dubai scores highly in the area of personal finance, with the UAE ranked as the sixth-highest country for “savings, wage growth and disposable income”. The Middle East does well in this area with Qatar is ranked first, followed by Oman, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Kuwait and then the UAE. “Expats have also said that other key reasons for selecting Dubai as their home away from home is because they enjoy the city’s social life, its fantastic food scene, the cleanliness, safety, and the excellent leisure facilities it offers.” an HSBC spokesman has said.

Average expatriate salaries, global

Mumbai $217k San Francisco $207k Zurich $207k Shanghai $202k Geneva $185k New York $182k Los Angeles $161k Jakarta $153k Hong Kong $148k Paris $140k Dubai $138k Moscow $136k Sydney $134k Tokyo $133k Abu Dhabi $127k Source: HSBC, 2017-2018, Expat Explorer