New Zealand tops poll as the ideal place to live

New Zealand rated best for both quality of life and cost of living, according to a new study from Alliance & Leicester International (ALIL), the offshore savings bank with a strong focus on expatriate customers around the globe.

New Zealand, which is a favourite with many expats, has one of the lowest average property prices (£105,750) and low costs for food, drink and fuel. It also boasts one of the more favourable tax regimes, with the highest band at 39% - significantly lower than its neighbour Australia (50%) and the ever popular expat destination, France (48%).

In ALIL's Cost of Living Scorecard, New Zealand was followed by South Africa, Florida, Dubai and Canada. The UK rated eighth of the 14 countries. At the other end of the scale, France is the most expensive followed by Hong Kong, Spain, New York and Singapore.

New Zealand - a country with a population of under five million - also boasts a low crime rate, high internet connectivity and consistently mild weather, favourable working hours and generous annual leave, which puts it at the top for quality of life on the ALIL scorecard.

Australia scored well on the Quality of Life Scorecard coming in at second place - compared to 9th in the cost of living scale. European destinations - Italy, Spain, Portugal and France - also scored more highly on this aspect of the study, as the relaxed Mediterranean attitude to work life balance triumphed. Poor weather dragged the UK down the rankings to eighth, with Canada's freezing winters also affected its position.

Whilst rated the second cheapest country for the cost of living, South Africa fared far worse when it came to the quality of life. This was mainly due to the high crime rate - South Africa is notorious for high levels of property crime and has the highest rate of murder of any of the countries in the list, with a rate of 0.496008 murders per 1,000 people. It also has a very low level of internet connectivity and a long working week (45 hrs).

However, New York with its over 40 hour working week, just 10 days annual leave and relatively high crime rate offered the lowest quality of life. Those devoted to fast city living may dispute this, citing nightlife and high salaries as attracting them, but for many the downsides outweigh the upsides.

Simon Ripton, Acting Managing Director of Alliance & Leicester International comments: "Costs and quality of life are often not the primary reason that many UK citizens decide to move abroad, particularly if work takes them to another country. However these are certainly important factors once they are in their new home. Most places have their unique attractions, so while one country might be someone's idea of heaven, it might be another's idea of hell."

Simon Ripton continues: "That said, New Zealand does on average appear to offer a high quality of life at a reasonable cost - attributes that many people value in their country of residence. Its strong cultural links to the UK also make it highly attractive to many UK movers. But wherever expats do decided to settle, they will want to maintain links with the UK and many of the aspects of their home country that they value.

"Using a bank like ALIL is an ideal way to do this, as not only can expats protect their savings from local currency fluctuation, but they can also be safe in the knowledge that they can access their savings using internet banking 24 hours a day."