Russia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are home to the wealthiest expats, with Eurozone countries falling behind when it comes to 

paying for foreign expertise, according to a new survey of expats. 

The third annual report commissioned by HSBC Bank International found finances among expats were generally positive with two-thirds, or 66 per cent, saying they have more disposable income to save and invest since moving abroad. 

But the survey found expats in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Singapore enjoyed the greatest wealth overall, having higher salaries, more disposable income and more luxury items such as swimming pools, properties and yachts. 

Expats in Russia topped the list for the second consecutive years with a third, or 36 per cent, reporting earnings of more than $250,000 a year - compared to two-thirds, or 62 per cent, of expats in Spain earning below $60,000. 

HSBC spokeswoman Lisa Wood said the survey, conducted by research company GfK, showed the wealth gap was widening between the east and west, with expats in emerging economies leaving their counterparts in the Eurozone behind. 

“The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies have fared well over the last year and as a result we’ve seen that these expat locations are particularly strong when it comes to expat finances,” Wood said. 

“Eurozone countries were the worst-performing when looking at purely financial criteria and all featured in the bottom quartile of our table.” 

The Expat Economic survey, part of HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey of 4,100 expats from 100 countries, ranked 25 countries on scores linked to annual income, monthly disposable income and a measure of defined luxuries. 

When it came to salaries, Russia topped this table followed by Singapore and Bermuda. The UAE was eighth.