Singapore is Southeast Asians’ top choice for living & working among ASEAN member states

SINGAPORE: According to a recent poll of Southeast Asians, many respondents said they would prefer an ASEAN member state as a potential relocation destination.

Among those who said this, nearly two in five (39.6%) chose Singapore as a country to live or work in, the highest of all Southeast Asian nations, particularly among respondents from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

These responses are part of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey, which was published in April. The final chapter of the survey deals with how much soft power countries have based on respondents’ relocation choices.

After Singapore, the participants who said they would prefer to relocate to an ASEAN nation also said they would choose Thailand (16.2%) and Malaysia (9.3%). Vietnam, which was in third place last year, slipped to fourth place with 7.7%.

Unsurprisingly, 77.2% of Singaporeans who participated in the survey said they would choose to remain in their home country. The number of participants from Thailand with the same response is even higher at 91.7%. In Vietnam, it’s 69.7%, and in Malaysia, 48.4%.

The second most preferred destination for relocation among the respondents, after an ASEAN member state, is Japan, with 16.8% choosing the country as an option for where they can live or work.

While the United States used to be in the top three, it has been replaced by Australia (15.1%), though the US (11.4%) took the fourth spot. In fifth place is the European Union, with 9.7% choosing it as a preferred relocation destination.

Preferred travel choices

The top three holiday locations for Southeast Asians remain the same from last year. Japan (32.5%) still took first place, followed by an ASEAN member state (13.4%) and then a country in the EU (9.7%). In fourth and fifth places are Australia (9.4%) and New Zealand (&.7%), respectively.

Among the ASEAN member states, Japan was still the first choice, except for participants from Timor-Leste, who chose an ASEAN country as their first pick.

Nearly 3 in 5 (39.8%) Singaporeans chose Japan as their first choice of holiday destination, followed by an ASEAN member state (13.4%), China (9.3%), New Zealand (8.9%), and Australia (8.5%).

Among ASEAN countries, Thailand was the first choice for 46% of respondents, followed by Singapore (17.8%) and Malaysia (11%). Vietnam (8.8%) and Indonesia (7.5%) rounded out the top five choices. /TISG 

Read also: Over half of Singapore’s high-net-worth individuals are considering relocation