Although spring is far gone, summer is leaving us, and the colder, darker and, oftentimes grumpier, seasons are ahead, I have chosen to write about expats’ love and committed relationships today. At first sight, this topic may not seem as important as matters of adjustment, organizational support, child education possibilities and host country climate; yet, this perception is misleading. To name a few, satisfaction with romantic relationships definitely influences adjustment, work-life balance and overall personal satisfaction with the expat experience.
A recent expat survey undertaken by InterNations gathered data from 14,388 expatriates representing 170 nationalities and 195 countries of residence, providing us with a great deal of interesting data, including the topic of love and relationships.
So, when abroad do expats also feel that love is in the air?
According to the survey data, for the majority of expats love IS in the air. More specifically, 62% of survey respondents are in a committed relationship, which most likely is the case for family expats, expat partners or the ones, who relocated for love, and hence to the home-country of their significant other. 14% among all expats in a relationship are maintaining it in a long-distance format. (Ex-)students and career expats – the ones, who are abroad mainly for the purposes of building their career – are least likely to have a significant other. Looking at the same trends by nationality, it turns out that Danish men (81%) and Indian women (76%) are the ones most likely to have a partner, while expats from Indonesia (38%) are least likely to be in a committed relationship. Looking at the data across countries of expat residence, Kenya, the Philippines, Finland and Bahrain seem to have the highest numbers of expats in a relationship (74%), while only about half of expats are committed in Belgium.
The InterNations data also indicate that expats are very open to cross-cultural relationships. Indeed, 56% of all expats in a relationship have a significant other from a different country of origin. This data certainly supports the notion of increasing multiculturalism, and by extension the prevalence of third culture kids. Irish expats are the ones who most likely build relationships with someone non-Irish, while expats living in Peru, Greece and the Philippines are most likely to choose their significant other among the local residents. Indian expatriates are the most conservative in terms of cross-cultural relationships, as nine out of ten Indians are in a relationship with another Indian.
In general, 75% of all expats in a relationship are satisfied with it, and 40% are even completely happy with their relationship. Only 3% of expats in a relationship are not satisfied with it, and these are most likely younger expats because the data show that older expats (aged 51+ years) are the happiest in love. By country, the highest satisfaction with relationships is in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Malta. In contrast, the least love seems to be in the air in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Hong Kong. As mentioned above, relationship satisfaction seems to play a key role in overall satisfaction with the expat destination, as according to the top expat destination rankings, Ecuador tops the list (1), with Malta (3) and Costa Rica (12) also highly valued; while Hong Kong (26), Saudi Arabia (61) and Nigeria (62) are falling further behind. Interestingly, Ecuador (1), Costa Rica (2) and Malta (10) also beat by far Hong Kong (48), Saudi Arabia (63) and Nigeria (62) in terms of more specific personal happiness ratings.
This year, the InterNations survey also gathered some interesting data on same-sex relationships. As it turns out, expats in a same-sex relationship are more satisfied with it compared to all expats in a relationship in general. Also, this group of expats is more open towards cross-cultural relationships than the global average for expats, as only 38% of them (compared to 43% of the global average for expats with partners) are in a relationship with a compatriot.
All in all, romantic relationships matter, they seem to make a difference in expat personal happiness and, hence, their general happiness and satisfaction with the expat experience. So what does this mean for single expats? Although 62% of single expats agree with the statement that the expat lifestyle makes having a relationship difficult, the outlook for finding a significant other appears better in some places than others. Ecuador, Costa Rica and Malta seem to be the right places to go for a single expat.
what about the legal implications of marriage laws for expats on the rates of their marriages with locals. especially when the expat is coming from a developing country to a developed country.