Moving abroad boosts the average worker’s income by $21,000, with the best-paid staff found in Switzerland, the U.S. and Hong Kong. That’s the conclusion in a survey showing that 45 percent of expats said their existing job paid more internationally and 28 percent changed locations for a promotion. In Switzerland, famous for both sky-high mountains and prices, the annual income boost totaled $61,000. Expat salaries there averaged $203,000 per year — twice the global level. In HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer, Singapore topped the ranking as best place to live and work for a fourth straight year, beating New Zealand, Germany and Canada. Switzerland ranked only eighth, with the high cost of raising children and difficulty making friends going against it. “Singapore packs everything a budding expat could want into one of the world’s smallest territories,” said John Goddard, head of HSBC Expat.

Moving abroad boosts the average worker’s income by $21,000, with the best-paid staff found in Switzerland, the U.S. and Hong Kong. That’s the conclusion in a survey showing that 45 percent of expats said their existing job paid more internationally and 28 percent changed locations for a promotion. In Switzerland, famous for both sky-high mountains and prices, the annual income boost totaled $61,000. Expat salaries there averaged $203,000 per year — twice the global level. In HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer, Singapore topped the ranking as best place to live and work for a fourth straight year, beating New Zealand, Germany and Canada. Switzerland ranked only eighth, with the high cost of raising children and difficulty making friends going against it. “Singapore packs everything a budding expat could want into one of the world’s smallest territories,” said John Goddard, head of HSBC Expat.