Asian countries do well among expats . - Asia leads the way by some distance among the place considered most pleasant to live by expatriates in terms of quality of life. This is the conclusion of the sixth edition of “Expat Explorer”, a survey published by the British HSBC bank. The study interviewed 7,000 expatriates in nearly 100 countries. In Asia, almost 35% of foreign residents in the region underline the richness of their social lives, as opposed to a global average of 26%. No fewer than five Asian countries are among the ten top countries: Thailand, China, Singapore, India and Taiwan. The five other countries are Bahrain (2nd), the Cayman Islands (4th), Australia (5th), Spain (9th) and Brazil (10th). In addition to the quality of life, the survey also examined financial well-being and family friendliness. Those who went abroad with children, were more likely to choose European countries, with Germany in number one place, followed by France, Belgium and Spain while, outside Europe, Singapore, South Africa and New Zealand are the most popular destinations. Other expats choose a country with strong economic potential, such as Switzerland (75%), ahead of Qatar (73%) and China (72%). Pensioners have a soft spot for France where one expatriate out of five in France is retired (20%) compared to the world average of 9%. The advantages mentioned in this case are the cultural wealth of the country and also access to quality health services. (IL/transl.fl)