Cayman Islands Rated Worlds Friendliest Country

The Cayman Islands is rated the world’s friendliest country, reports Forbes online, according to the results of HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, which was released earlier this month.

Countries were rated in terms of where it’s easiest to befriend locals, learn the local language, integrate into the community and fit into the new culture. The Cayman Islands scored highly in all categories to top the list of World’s Friendliest Countries. In second place is Australia and in third, the UK.

For the Cayman Islands, 75 per cent of expats survey stated that they were integrating well into the community; the result was 72 per cent for Australia and 73 per cent for the UK.

The article, written by contributor Beth Greenfield, quoted Steve McIntosh, founder of CML Offshore Recruitment as stating: “There’s no income or payroll tax, summer all-year-round, hardly any crime, and no pollution. Grand Cayman has all the amenities of a city with the close-knit community of a town. That’s why most people who come here for a short assignment end up staying long-term.”

According to the article, HSBC surveyed 5,339 expatriates in nearly 100 countries between May and July 2012. Respondents rated their host countries on a slew of factors related to economics, raising children and overall experience.

To determine which were the friendliest, Forbes isolated the results in four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture.

Read the full article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/10/24/the-worlds-friendliest-countries-3/