SG ranks top in digital life enablements for expats, lags in cashless arena

Singapore emerges as the top Asian country helming the eighth spot in the overall digital life aspect for expats. Digital life statistics are evaluated on the accessibility of online services and convenience of such services in a particular country. Estonia, Finland and Norway took the first three spots for digital life category.Despite topping for overall quality, Singapore still falls behind other countries on the availability of cashless payments, unrestricted access to online services and getting a local mobile number for expats, according to Digital Life Abroad report by InterNations. The little red dot nation was ranked below the top 10 countries for all three services.Estonia, Finland and Myanmar were among the top few for the ease and availability of cashless payments, unrestricted access to online services and getting a local mobile number for expats. Despite lagging behind in these areas, Singapore came in second for availability of administrative and government services online.Nearly 60% of respondents in Singapore have rated the availability of ease and availability of cashless payments, unrestricted access to online services and getting a local mobile number for expats “very good”, while one in five expats in Indonesia gave the services a “worst possible” rating.Segmenting the survey results by gender, Singapore took the seventh position as a top destination for expats to live in, as both males and females rated the country the same. Singapore topped the category of travel and transport, with Hong Kong and Czechia following close behind.In terms of career, though not as high in the ranks as Taiwan, Singapore was rated 14th in the working abroad index. It was among the top 10 under the economy and job security (fifth) category as well as career prospects and satisfactions (sixth) subcategories. Singapore’s top employment status also stood out compared to global and regional results. The report surveyed approximately 18,135 expatriates, representing 178 nationalities and living in 187 countries or territories.