What’s the best way to find what it’s like to live in a country? By searching for answers online? This approach could give you some answers, we agree. Would it perhaps be a better idea to visit for a holiday? You’ll definitely get a feel for the country, but holidaying in a country or city is often vastly different from living there permanently.

The best thing to do (in our opinion)? Speak to people who already live there. That’s exactly what the Expat Explorer Survey does and it’s how we’re going to compare life in New Zealand to Australia today.

The reason for the comparison is not only because we offer immigration services for both countries. It’s also because many people interested in living in New Zealand also consider Australia when setting out on their emigration journey.

What is the Expat Explorer Survey?

The Expat Explorer Survey happens annually. It is a global survey and in 2019 the survey was completed by 18,059 expats in the world. Respondents answer a set of 27 questions and their answers are used to calculate a league table. A minimum sample of 100 expat respondents is required for a country to be included. In 2019, 33 countries from around the world made the cut.. These 33 countries included New Zealand and Australia.

The survey has three categories – Living, Aspiring, and Little Expats

The Expat Explorer Survey’s 27 questions are spread across three categories:

1. Living
2. Aspiring
3. Little Expats

While ‘Living’ covers a multitude of aspects around your well-being, ‘Aspiring’ covers income and career. ‘Little Expats’, as the name suggests, addresses issues that affect children.

Here’s how New Zealand and Australia did in each category:

1. Living

Between New Zealand and Australia, New Zealand came out tops for fulfillment, political stability, ease of settling in, and having welcoming communities. These last two are surely linked! New Zealanders are known as friendly people who go out of their way to help others. Many new expats of stories of how a New Zealander helped them out in the first few months in the country.

Australia, on the other hand, beat New Zealand when it came to qualify of life as well as physical and mental well-being. The beautiful weather gets the credit for making expats feel physically healthier than in their home countries.

Position out of 33 countries in the Survey: New Zealand – 3rd | Australia – 4th

2. Aspiring

While New Zealand were scored higher by expats for income, Australia scored more for disposable income. So it seems that although expats in New Zealand earn more, expats in Australia has more of their salary to spend after deductions.

Australia also beat New Zealand when it came to career progression. The Expat Explorer Survey found that while expats don’t initially opt for Australia to help progress their careers, this is one of the reasons expats often end up staying long term.

New Zealand came out tops again, however, in reaching one’s potential and work-life balance. This is to be expected as New Zealand is known as a country that values work-life balance. In fact, this is often one of the main reasons expats choose to go to New Zealand.

Position out of 33 countries in the Survey: New Zealand – 8th |Australia – 12th

3. Little Expats

Expat parents in New Zealand rated the country highly for their children’s ability to make friends. New Zealand came in two spots above Australia, in fact. However, Australia beat New Zealand in learning and schooling. The difference again was only two spots, so your children are going to have a great childhood in either country.

Position out of 33 countries in the Survey: New Zealand – 9th | Australia – 8th

Where do New Zealand and Australia sit on the Expat Explorer Survey league table?

New Zealand came in at 5th place overall while Australia took 6th place. Switzerland, Singapore, Canada and Spain claimed the top four spots. Turkey, Germany, the UAE and Vietnam made up the rest of the top 10.

View the full league table here and view the comparison of Australia and New Zealand here.