Based on the insights of more than 6,000 women given in the annual Expat Insider survey, InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, compiled a so-far unpublished ranking of the top countries for women working abroad, which varies quite a bit from male expats’ picks. Here are the results:
Top 10 Countries for Women Working Abroad
1. Luxembourg
Luxembourg tops the Working Abroad Index not only for women, but for all survey respondents. For female expats, it does best in the Job Security subcategory, coming in first with 86 percent of women saying that they feel positive about this factor. The high ranking in job security is partly due to the 93 percent of female expats that feel positive about the state of Luxembourg’s economy. The country also ranks first among women when it comes to the Safety & Security subcategory: 96 percent
rate the peacefulness positively, and not one expat women says that they feel negatively about the country’s political stability.
2. Taiwan
Taiwan takes second place overall for women working abroad, coming in first place for the Job & Career subcategory. In fact, six in ten female expats (62 percent) say that they feel positive about their career prospects in Taiwan, as opposed to slightly more than half of the women around the world agreeing to this (53 percent). A vast majority (86 percent) are also satisfied with their current position in comparison to a global average of 62 percent.
3. Germany
Germany places third for the Job Security subcategory with 90 percent of female expats saying that they are positive about the state of the economy. Nearly half of female expats in Germany (46 percent in comparison to 36 percent globally) are employees or managers and the 11 percent of women in Germany currently searching for work are facing good career prospects, as 65 percentage of female respondents in Germany are overall satisfied with them in comparison to 53 percent worldwide. Germany also performs well among expat women for safety and political stability: 89 percent for example feel positive about their personal safety compared to a global average of 77 percent.
4. Hungary
Hungary proves that money does not mean everything: despite 43 percent of women in Hungary earning less than they would back home (compared to 31percent of women globally), the country does exceptionally well when it comes to the Job & Career and Work-Life Balance subcategories, ranking second in both. An impressive 40 percent — as opposed to a global average of only 17 percent — are even completely satisfied with their work-life balance. Hungary also shows some of the biggest differences between expat men and women overall: expat women rank Hungary as the world’s 7th best country to live in, whereas expat men feel very differently, ranking it at 36th out of 62 countries.
5. Bahrain
Bahrain friendly atmosphere seems to help women working abroad to settle in and the country makes it to sixth place in the Ease of Settling In Index. Over a quarter of female expats (27 percent) agree completely that making local friends is easy, a number far higher than the 11 percent global average. Bahrain also does very well when it comes to the Job & Career and Work-Life Balance subcategories, coming in at third place and sixth place respectively: nearly three-quarters of female expats (73 percent) are overall satisfied with their jobs in Bahrain compared to a global average of 62 percent.
6. Australia
Australia is a great destination for women working abroad who want to enjoy their free time to the fullest. Female expats in Australia have plenty to do in their spare time: 93 percent of respondents feel positive about the available leisure activities. Compared to a global average of just 17 percent of women saying they are completely satisfied with their work-life balance, three in ten expat women in Australia feel this way. The great weather down under is another plus to moving to Australia, with 85 percent of female expats saying that the climate and weather is good compared to a 61 percent global average.
7. Ecuador
Despite three in ten women (29 percent) saying they earn significantly less than at home, well above the worldwide average of just 14 percent, Ecuador still makes a great destination for working abroad, coming first in the Work-Life Balance subcategory: an impressive 84 percent of female expats in Ecuador indeed say they feel satisfied with their work-life balance compared to the global average of 60 percent. However, Ecuador does not do so well for the state of its economy with 43 percent of women feeling negatively about it, compared to a global average of just 24 percent.
8. New Zealand
Expat women find it easy to settle in and feel welcome in New Zealand. For instance, over four in five (83 percent) say that they feel that it is easy to get used to the local culture. Over three in five (61 percent) even say that they would possibly stay forever in New Zealand, an impressive 30 percentage points more than women around the world. Perhaps the work-life balance contributes to women wanting to stay — as 77 percent of them are overall satisfied with this aspect of their life.
9. Norway
Expat women in Norway can expect to be earning more than they would at home with 74 percent of respondents saying this is the case compared to only half of respondents worldwide. Although nearly eight in ten expat women worldwide consider themselves happy with their life (78 percent), this unfortunately is not the case in Norway: despite the positive working abroad results, only 66 percent of female expats feel overall happy with their life.
10. Denmark
Of all three subcategories of the Working Abroad Index, Denmark performs best in the Work-Life Balance subcategory coming in at fourth for women. Across all survey respondents, men included, Denmark even has the shortest full-time work week out of all the countries surveyed, with an average of 39 hours per week. Just like Norway, Denmark does not do as well in the Job & Career subcategory, placing 34th out of 57 countries for women. When it comes to the Job Security subcategory, Denmark comes 15th, six places below Norway, which still makes the top 10 ranking on ninth position.
