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
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