Indonesia falls flat as an expat destination in recent survey

Expats love living in Indonesia but feel its offerings have their limitations.

Expats who’ve made the move to Indonesia won’t have been surprised by the exotic country’s fall in the current release of the 2019 Expat Explorer survey. Out of 31 countries which took part in the study, the archipelago scored a sad 31st out of 33 countries, a crashing fall from last year’s position as 13th, with the categories ranging from Living through Aspiring to Little Expats.

Indonesia’s results could well apply to a number of other countries in Southeast Asia, as it scored well in fulfillment and welcoming communities in the Living category as well as in the reaching of potential in the Aspiring sector. However, schooling in the Little Expats section as well as political stability and quality of life all ranked as the second-worst of all the countries surveyed. Admittedly, the survey chose a bad time to study Indonesia, as the highly-contentious Indonesian presidential election was taking place.

Just over 18,000 expats living and working in the country took part in the study, and the resultant related country guide said it all as regards doing business, rating it second from last yet again in sectors covering economic confidence, wage growth, work/life balance, job security and entrepreneurship. However, Indonesia’s result as regards career progression improved at 10th position, and an overall 75 per cent of expats surveyed claimed to have had salary increases as a result of moving anywhere overseas.

In general, wages were a prime concern due to high rates of saving either for family financial security or retirement. Top of the tree as regards expat satisfaction was Switzerland, seen as the ‘complete expat package’ by many respondents, with the tiny country described as remarkable as regards economic and political security.