4 Southeast Asian countries are friendliest to expats, but Singapore isn’t one of them

SINGAPORE: While Singapore is in the top expat destinations when it comes to quality of life, it is not in the overall top 15, ranking 32nd out of the 46 countries on InterNations’ Expat Insider 2025 report.

Moreover, while four Southeast Asian countries are on the top 10 friendliest list, Singapore is not. Indonesia took pole position for ease of finding friends, while the Philippines ranked fourth, Thailand, eighth, and Vietnam, 10th. Singapore was 34th on the list.

Singapore, however, ranked well in other categories, placing fourth in travel and transit, and 10th in security. It also ranked 14th in terms of salary and job security, seventh in language, and ninth in digital life. 

The city-state was low on the list for work and leisure (44th), personal finance (41st), and work culture and satisfaction (36th).

As can be guessed, the cost of living is the biggest reason why expats in Singapore are unhappy. The study’s participants rated countries based on three factors: general cost of living, satisfaction with their financial situation, and whether their disposable household income is enough to lead a comfortable life.

Vietnam has emerged as number one in this category for five years in a row. In 2025, 89% of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the general cost of living, and 87% said their disposable household income was enough or more than enough to live a comfortable life. In contrast, the global average is at 40% and 69%, respectively.

Singapore, meanwhile, has been in the bottom 10 for personal finance for the past three years and has also been in last place (46th) for cost of living for three years in a row.

Affordable housing, in particular, is a recurrent issue for expats in Singapore. 

Additionally, the report says that the share of expats in the city-state who have said it’s easy to get a visa for Singapore has decreased by 10 points over the past year, dropping from 59% in 2024 to 49% in 2025.

A quarter of expats in Singapore said they were sent by their employer to the city-state, while 22% said they had found a job there, and 17% said they had been recruited internationally.

When asked if they are planning on leaving, 38% said they did not know yet, while 21% said they would within the next five years, and 14% said they wanted to stay in Singapore forever. As for a breakdown by industry, 15% said they work in finance, 12% say they work in information technology, and 8% work in manufacturing and engineering. /TISG

Read also: ‘Great opportunities, but…’: French expat flags rent as biggest hurdle in Singapore