Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Expats & the global economy

As the global economy continues to flounder and the cost of living increases rapidly due to the spiralling price of oil, it could be said the world expat community is getting the worst deal of all.

Most expats tend to include regular trips to their home nation to visit friends and family into their annual budget. With the drastic increase in oil prices causing previously unseen levels of inflation in air fares, many expats are finding that their visits home are beginning to damage their pockets. This situation can only worsen as world oil stocks become lower - for many expats who take frequent trips home, this could well be cause enough for them to repatriate.

Additionally, for many expats chose to start a new life in a nation with a reduced cost of living, a high quantity of these expats are also living on a fixed monthly budget with no additional income. As food and housing prices begin to rise across the board, these kinds of expats will find it increasingly difficult to maintain their current lifestyles on their current funds.

With the world heading into recession, we could begin to see the amount of expats returning home start to increase as they struggle to maintain their life in their chosen host nation.

What about you? Are you having second thoughts about your new life abroad or are you unaffected by the ups and downs of the economy?

No comments: