Every year, a lot of people living abroad think about shaking things up and finding a new place to call home. Mauritius has often been seen as a dreamy destination for those adventurous folks looking for a fresh start. But recently, a report called the "Worldwide Expat Index" from a British company called William Russell has thrown a curveball at this idea. Not everyone is on board with this ranking.
Moving to a new country is quite an adventure, and there are a lot of factors to consider. That's why William Russell came up with the "Worldwide Expat Index 2022," which looks at how happy the residents are, the quality of healthcare, job prospects, and overall quality of life. Each destination was given a score based on these important aspects.
A disappointing performance
Unfortunately, Mauritius didn't perform well in this international ranking, landing in the 56th place out of 59 countries evaluated. It's a letdown that puts it behind South Africa, India, and Indonesia, while Australia takes the top spot with an impressive score of 8.20 out of 10. Iceland, Finland, Switzerland, and New Zealand follow closely. Mauritius' overall score of 2.53 out of 10 is far from flattering.
When it comes to the quality of life, Mauritius ranks 51st with a score of 2.94, just behind Panama. Various factors are taken into account, such as crime rates, average rent costs, air pollution, water quality, waste management satisfaction, green spaces quality, gender equality, and an overall quality of life score.
Furthermore, in terms of healthcare, our small island only scored 3.47, which seems understandable. After all, having an average of 216,579 people per hospital in Mauritius is quite different from Japan, which leads the ranking with only 15,047 people per hospital. But what's particularly surprising is the unusually low score of 0.98 for the well-being of the inhabitants, suggesting that people aren't as satisfied as expected. The problem is that the ranking lacks data on employment in Mauritius, making it harder to evaluate its appeal to expats.
To put these results in context, Australia, at the top of the ranking, gets impressive scores with a rating of 9.08 for the well-being of residents, 7.67 for healthcare, 5.81 for job opportunities, and 5.62 for quality of life. However, the real shocker is Kazakhstan, which comes in eighth place and outperforms Mauritius, pushing European countries like Germany, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, and France further down the list with a score of 6.75.
A limited perspective?
To fully grasp these results, we talked to expats living in Mauritius on the Expat Forum. One forum member expressed surprise at Mauritius' recent ranking, saying, "Honestly, I'm very surprised by this result. While it might seem like there are better opportunities elsewhere for the local population, I'm sure many expats who have experienced other places feel pretty lucky to live here... I certainly do."
Another contributor shared their personal experience after five years on the island: "With health insurance, I have access to decent healthcare. Mauritians get free healthcare in hospitals and clinics. There are plenty of job options. Fiber optic internet is available all over the island. Public transportation like buses is frequent, even though they're not very fast due to frequent stops and traffic. Since they introduced a dedicated tram network, travel has become faster on the Port Louis / Curepipe route, and the government plans to expand it."
It's important to remember that rankings and indices only tell part of the story. The assessment of quality of life, well-being, and opportunities for expats can vary greatly depending on the methods and criteria used in different studies. Furthermore, rankings of preferred expat destinations can vary widely from one study to another. For instance, the Global Citizen Index ranks Denmark as the top choice for expats.
These variations remind us that the decision to move abroad is deeply personal: rankings can't always capture the richness of individual experiences! Mauritius, with its charms and challenges, continues to provide a unique backdrop for those who choose to explore it.
