If you’re looking to start a new life abroad, and are concerned about factors such as quality of life and cost of living, then New Zealand ticks all the right boxes.

A recent survey conducted by Alliance and Leicester International found that the most popular place for expats to live was New Zealand. As well as having mild weather, good working hours and a low crime rate, it also scored top of the poll for having a low cost of life and providing an ideal quality of life.

New Zealand was found to have the lowest average property price (£105,750) and one of the lowest higher-rate tax bands of 39% (compared to 48% in France and 50% in Australia). Plus the price of key essentials, such as food, drink and fuel, were all low.

The second most popular place for cost of living and quality of life was Italy, with Australia ranking third. Long-term European expat favourites such as Spain and Portugal also did well in the poll, with Portugal coming fourth and Spain sixth.

In contrast, the least favourite place for expats was found to be New York, due to its long working hours and relatively high rate of crime.

Head to our international property search to find out more about the property for sale in New Zealand.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 4:44 pm and is filed under New Zealand, Oceania. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.