Moving abroad for a job usually means decent pay and improved career opportunities.
But even if you earn more in your expat position, the cost of living can drag down how much you take home each month.
A survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, rated 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of 1-7. The report surveyed 14,300 expats, represented 174 nationalities, living in 191 countries or territories.
One of the sub-indexes is the Cost of Living. The data was based solely on the ratings given by respondents to the general cost of living in their respective country of residence, also on a scale of 1-7. 67 countries were included in this index.
The minimum sample size per country were 50 respondents. Over 45 of those countries had more than 100 respondents.
While lots of European countries like Spain, Malta, and Poland topped the cheapest countries to live in list,Business Insider took a look at the top 11 most expensive countries for expats:
11. Ireland —The country was rated third worst by expats for happiness in their personal finance situation because the cost of living is so high.
10. Finland — The country tops many of the other rankings for quality of life and well-being but it comes at a price.
9. Denmark —The country suffers from a lack of housing, meaning accommodation costs are high making the nation one of the most expensive places to live in.
8. Mozambique —The country is near the bottom of the list. Not only does it rank incredibly low in affordability, all other aspects from quality of life to personal finance satisfaction also scored poorly.
7. Israel —The nation hits the top of the charts for health and well-being and leisure options but one of the worst for housing and living costs.
6. Qatar —The country brings in highly-skilled workers from overseas at extremely competitive salaries but expats' responses showed that a lot of their pay gets cancelled out due to high living costs.
5. Luxembourg —The small country of just around 500,000 people is one of the wealthiest in the world, so it probably comes as no surprise that the average living cost is very high.
4. Norway —The nation ranks highly across most subindexes for quality of life and a great place to raise a family, but it also ends up being one of the most expensive places in the world to live, too.
3. Switzerland —While the environment, safety, security, and general quality of life was seen by expats are one of the best, the survey showed that many were concerned about the continual rise in living costs.
2. Hong Kong —The nation is a hub for foreign workers in Asia, but also notorious for extremely expensive housing.
1. Nigeria —Expats were extremely unhappy with the cost of living in Nigeria as a foreign worker. The country also fell in the personal finance satisfaction index.
