According to the 2009 Expat Explorer Survey, the best paid expats in the world live in Russia, Asia and the Middle East.

The largest proportion of high rollers resided in the countries of Russia, Japan and Qatar. Following close behind, a third to a quarter of foreigners working in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and India earned annual wages of more than $200,000.

Meanwhile, countries such as Malaysia, China and India were ranked among the cheapest for accommodation.

Of course, being able to put money away for retirement and security is also a big perk to expatriating, and the survey showed that Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, India and the United Arab Emirates were the top five countries where people have increased their savings– even despite the global economic crisis.

Unfortunately, the survey also reported that while expatriation is helping Americans and Brits abroad, the situation was not so kind finacially for people living from abroad in the U.S. and Britain, where the economic crisis is hitting expats hard. Close to a quarter living in those anglophone nations are considering returning home, compared to just 15 percent overall, due to the high cost of living, lack of savings and lower wages.

Australia and Beligium have also had trouble retaining their expatriates; the survey reported that expats in those countries were the poorest wage-wise among those surveyed.

All in all, Russia was the only country technically outside of the Middle East and Asia which reported among the top 10 in expat wealth. That may tell you something regarding trends in response to the global recession.

Check out the full report here!

Source: Reuters

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