If you are thinking about seeing whether the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence‚ you should consider moving to Ecuador‚ Poland or the Czech Republic.

That is if you heed the opinions of more than 14 000 expatriates of 170 nationalities living in 195 countries around the globe.

These were the people probed by InterNations‚ a global expat network that helps expatriates around the world to feel at home abroad‚ to compile its 2016 “Expat Insider” survey.

InterNations released its annual survey on Wednesday.

The survey ranked 64 countries from the cheapest to the most expensive places for expatriates to live. The countries were scored on topics such as quality of life‚ cost of living‚ career opportunities and family life.

South Africa was ranked number 25‚ beating strong contenders such as the USA (27)‚ Japan (31)‚ France (41)‚ New Zealand (44)‚ the United Kingdom (51) and Australia (52).

Ecuador‚ in South America‚ claimed the number one spot as the most expat friendly country.

It was rated as not only the cheapest place to live‚ but also the most popular destination for expats around the world.

Poland‚ the Czech Republic‚ Vietnam and Thailand rounded out the top five.

InterNations says 26% of Ecuador’s expats are completely satisfied with their financial situation‚ compared to 15% of their global counterparts.

This proved not to be due to large income: More than half of the survey respondents who disclosed their income status reported an annual gross household income of less than about R382 000.

Mozambique‚ Nigeria and Brazil were ranked the most expensive places for expats to live.

Mozambique and Nigeria also ranked in the top five for the most expensive housing around the world.

But despite the high cost of living‚ expats in these countries generally feel that they have enough disposable income‚ according to the survey. Respondents in Nigeria who chose to share information on their household income showed that 12% of expats in Nigeria have an annual income of more than R3.8-million.

Among those who moved to Nigeria for job-related reasons‚ 38% were reimbursed for their relocation costs. More than half of the expats living in Nigeria said their employer sponsored their healthcare and 85% had their housing taken care of by their company.

Expats in Mozambique and Brazil also enjoyed similar housing benefits as their Nigerian counterparts.

Hashim Zein‚ an American engineer working at OLG in Nigeria and InterNations representative‚ said: “Housing is often included in expat remuneration packages and the higher risk pay expats enjoy in Nigeria means more expandable income in spite of the high living costs.”

He also explained that the neighbourhoods where expats live are usually more secure and therefore more expensive‚ and food typical of Western‚ South Asian and Far East cooking are imported and cost more.

In the 2015 survey‚ the top 10 cheapest countries for expats were Ecuador‚ Mexico‚ Malta‚ Singapore‚ Luxembourg‚ New Zealand‚ Thailand‚ Panama‚ Canada and Australia.