Two new rankings have just come out, one from Internations and the other from HSBC, both using their expat networks to rate countries for work and quality of life. Germany comes top 10 for both rankings but we all really know the truth… when they say ‘Germany’, what they really mean is ‘Frankfurt’…

What’s interesting about both rankings is that they have such a broad range of countries covered thanks to their global networks so the findings are pretty credible. But then I still find it amazing that Internations places Switzerland below Germany when it comes to working abroad. It seems that although Swiss based expats earn a lot of money and have plenty of disposable income, Germany does better thanks to quality of life and stability.

But anyway, getting back to what makes Fra…Germany an amazing place to live and work.

The survey actually confirms what many of us could have guessed anyway but it also throws up a few funny facts. For example, its no surprise that Germany is high up for transport (#8) and health (#7), but when it comes to weather Germany is way down the list which leads me to believe that a hefty proportion of the survey respondents are enjoying a wet and windy life up North in Hamburg.

Another interesting stat is safety and security where Germany still comes #15 showing that the much publicised wave of asylum-seeker-led criminality is being sensationalised in favour of Daily Mail-esque headlines.

Something else that makes me wonder is the common theme in both German and Switzerland for personal happiness (#37 and #53 respectively). Is it possible that the well organised transport, health, education is at the expense of actually having fun and relaxing? It could be explained by the low score for leisure options (#44) and also by the disasterous ranking for Ease of Settling in (#57). Expats in Germany have trouble with language (#60), making friends (#58), feeling welcome (#49) and with the friendliness of the locals (#55).

A pretty harsh assessment of the Germans to be fair, but on the other hand, whoever said the germans were an easy going bunch up for a laugh? The beer is good though and the job security (#2) more than make up for it…

If you can’t be bothered reading the whole 188 pages of the full report, I have (with my newly discovered German efficiency) saved the 3 pages concerning our wonderful hosts here for you: expat_insider_2016_germany.