Study: Gen Z Americans say Singapore is 5th most desirable country for expats

SINGAPORE: More young United States citizens are expressing a desire to live overseas, a new survey has shown. When Gen Z’ers in the US were asked whether they wanted to leave America and where they wanted to live, respondents ranked Singapore as their fifth most desirable destination, higher than Germany, Italy, and even Australia, in the poll conducted by online language learning marketplace Preply.

Results from the Preply survey show that the United Kingdom takes the top position as Gen Z’s potential emigration destination, followed by Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and Singapore, in that order. Singapore got top marks not only because of its economy and infrastructure but also because of ease of travel to other destinations in Asia. “As a global hub for business and finance, Singapore has attracted immigrants from all over. There are strong expat communities and plenty of international schools, making long-term living there easy. The strong economy, modern infrastructure, and proximity to so many dream destinations in Asia are other factors drawing people to this city state,” wrote Preply on Oct 26.

Rounding out the top ten desirable destinations for young Americans are Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Ireland, in sixth to tenth places, respectively. New Zealand comes in 12th place, and two other Asian countries made the top 20: South Korea in 15th place and the Philippines in 19th.

Interestingly, when asked for the reasons for wanting to leave the US, at the top are social programs such as universal healthcare (25.6 per cent), the desire to have new cultural experiences (18.9 per cent), cost of living (18 per cent) and the dislike of the political environment (17.7 per cent). Also, 59 per cent said that US gun violence played an important role in their desire to move to another country.

Read also: Expats leaving SG due to high rent; Netizens say more foreigners will come, but this is not good for Singapore

Is it easy to move from the US to Singapore?

For US expats, moving to Singapore comes with its own set of challenges, despite the fact that a high percentage of people living in the Little Red Dot is made up of foreigners. A US citizen may live in Singapore long-term if he or she has either a work visa, a study visa or a family reunification visa if they have family members who live there legally or are Singapore citizens.

As for the cost of living, Singapore regularly ranks high on lists of countries and cities with high living costs, which should provide somewhat of a warning for would-be immigrants or expats to The Little Red Dot. In contrast, while there are high living costs in the US in cities such as New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago, in many rural areas, living costs are much lower.

There are also several other considerations, including language barriers and cultural differences. As in all things, in moving from the US to Singapore, forewarned is forearmed. /TISG

Read also: Expat pay packages in Singapore increased, driven up by high rental rates, but salaries are lower