Google ‘what’s New Zealand best in the world at’ and guaranteed you’ll find the national rugby team, the All Blacks, up there. Although rightly proud of their sporting prowess on the global stage, New Zealand is world beating in other ways too.
The world’s most free country
What does it mean to be free? Well for starters, to enjoy freedom of expression and belief, as well as tolerance of immigrants and minorities. In the Legatum Prosperity Index, New Zealand has topped the personal freedom category. This suggests that New Zealanders feel safe, respected and able to explore their opinions and beliefs without persecution.
An annual ranking of 142 countries, the index ranks countries on a range of factors, including wealth, economic growth and quality of life. However, it doesn’t just look at economic indicators (like a country’s income), it also looks at people’s well-being – making it unique. It’s the only global measurement of prosperity based on both income and wellbeing.
See how well New Zealand fared on other factors too.
Best experience for expats
Global bank HSBC has just released the results of their Expat Explorer Survey. Surveying the opinions and experiences of expats (so the people who have actually done what you’re hoping to do), it’s a fascinating look into what it’s really like to move, live and work internationally.
Although New Zealand actually came in at number two (behind Singapore at number one) overall of the world’s best countries for expats, it still topped a number of the charts.
Key wins for New Zealand include:
- Number one for entrepreneurship – great news for anyone hoping to set up a business in NZ.
- Number one for overall experience with number one rankings in quality of life, finance and healthcare.
- Number one for quality of life, health and integration under the family category – reassuring if you’re taking your family with you to NZ.
Look at how New Zealand compares to other countries for expats – it’s definitely one of the best.
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Credit: Chris WIlliams