Or, at least, so says a new study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com[1].

Its research examined 16 quality of life factors – such as net income, food and fuel costs, life expectancy and working conditions – across 10 European countries to see how they stacked up.

France emerged with the best overall score, followed by Spain. The UK came ninth, with Ireland propping up the bottom of the table.

The reason for the UK’s poor score, said uSwitch, included its high living costs, below average government spending on health and education, shortage of holiday entitlements, high retirement age and lack of sunshine.

France, by contrast, was found to have the lowest retirement age, the longest life expectancy and the highest healthcare spend.

Meanwhile, Spain benefited from low living costs (especially for alcohol and cigarettes!), the highest number of holidays (at 43 days per year) and most sunshine hours.

The firm went on to note that three in ten people in the UK believe now is a good time to emigrate[2]. Given the low quality of life it seems they can expect to enjoy, is it any wonder?

The Full Picture

Yet before everyone starts packing their bags for France and Spain, it is important to remember that while such surveys make for attention-grabbing headlines, they don’t show the full picture.

For instance, the uSwitch report gives no consideration to the countries’ current or expected economic growth rates. Or what about the 20% unemployment rate afflicting Spain?

It gives no weighting either to the burdensome red tape that is so often cited as a feature of life in France and Italy.

The percentage of GDP spent on health is a blunt tool too by which to measure and compare the efficacy of countries’ systems. The United States, for one, spends a considerably higher percentage of its GDP on health, yet millions of its citizens remain without adequate, or indeed any, health cover.

The uSwitch survey also takes it as given that the greater the hours of sunshine the better. Yet the impressive sunshine quota seen in southern Europe – as well as places such as California and parts of Australia – bring with it high summer temperatures that frequently provoke raging forest fires, water shortages, pest infestations and crop failures.

In addition, the summer heat may force residents, especially the elderly, to spend weeks of the year trapped indoors, and can even lead to spiking death rates (as seen in Europe during the 2003 heatwave).

In short, these types of reports and surveys – a plethora of which are produced around the world each year – can give some helpful indication of the life you can expect to find when moving abroad. But to get a real picture, don’t forget to consider all the elements, the pros and the cons, and what they mean specifically to you.

[2] uSwitch.com Consumer Opinion Panel, May 2010, amongst a sample of 3,640 adults.

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3. Beautiful Britain

Before moving to Spain I was wont to focus on those aspects of life in Britain that were inciting me to leave: the weather, grey and litter-strewn streets, high living costs, crime levels, images of the country’s rundown inner cities, overburdened health and education systems.

Spanish life promised a more gilded existence. Towns of quaint narrow streets and sunshine burnished buildings, café-lined plazas and open-air markets, the turquoise Mediterranean, vast tracts of undeveloped farmland and forest, lower prices and a more relaxed pace of life.

But having now repatriated to the UK after seven years of living abroad I am seeing the beauty of my homeland with fresh eyes. I have a new appreciation of the rolling green landscapes, its woods of oak and elm and beech, those chocolate-box villages, the BBC.

And historic cities such as Salisbury.

I had my first visit there a few weeks ago. Centrepiece is the magnificent medieval Cathedral, completed in 1258 and considered the finest example of its type in the country. Less jaw-droppingly impressive, but equally charming, are the surrounding Cathedral Close and the rest of the medieval city centre.

Sitting amidst the tourist throngs on the lawns beside the Cathedral I saw the city as they must. And it made me realise just how beautiful England – and the rest of the UK – really can be. Not a bad place to live after all.

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Unlike our actual wedding day, when we were fortunate to be bathed in sunshine from dawn to dusk, yesterday saw uninterrupted grey, glowering skies. The sort of poor excuse for summer for which Britain is renowned.

But that is what the English weather holds. One day it can be glorious, when you think summer is finally here to stay; the next it is cold, wet and windy. Temperamental.

It’s not what we had become accustomed to during our years living on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where a long summer of heat and sunshine were guaranteed, promising endless days in the pool or on the beach. Indeed, it was one of the major reasons for us moving abroad in the first place. Re-acclimatising to what England has to offer will not be easy.

The upside to repatriating to the UK is the contact it gives us with family and friends, and the support network that is now on hand.

Yesterday, for instance, my in-laws offered to babysit, giving my wife and me the chance to head off to a restaurant for the evening. It was the first time we had been able to go out to celebrate our anniversary since our children were born, as living abroad meant there was no extended family around to watch them.

Such constraints don’t affect all expats. But If you’ve been used to having parents or siblings around to lend a hand while you go to the shops or the doctor, or look after the kids while you have a well-earned night out with friends or your partner, then their sudden absence can come as a big shock. Something to consider!

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Not in my balmy corner of Spain, I hasten to add. In Norway.

I was conducting a phone interview with a banking executive in Oslo this morning, and this is the weather report she gave me.

By contrast, I was sitting with my office balcony door open, with the sunshine pouring through. It must have been about 20 degrees here today, and that’s much cooler than it has been the rest of the month. Last weekend I saw people still swimming in the sea (although I must confess it’s a bit chilly for me now).

Norway consistently rates well in various quality of life measures such as its work/life balance, income levels and environmental performance. And for years it has dominated top spot in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index (HDI) table.

Evidently the country has a lot going for it. Except its geography. Spain’s sunshine seems much more appealing.

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Not surprising then that year after year Spain has proven to be one of the most popular destinations for expatriates from around the world, with 10% of its 45 million population now made up of foreign nationals.

Yet the beneath the alluring sheen of the Mediterranean sun all is not well.

An article on the BBC website* reported that the country’s industrial output fell 15.1% in November 2008 compared to the year before, the biggest drop on record. This manufacturing slump comes on top of the collapse already witnessed in Spain’s construction sector, showing the country’s woes are spreading across the economy and raising fears of a deep recession.

And there was more evidence of that with the release of figures showing unemployment hit 3 million in 2008, a 12-year high. Not the greatest time perhaps to be relocating to the country.

For anyone considering moving to Spain at present there is a silver lining though, in that the credit crisis has resulted in a plentiful supply of properties and tumbling house prices.

On the flip side however, the strength of the euro means that anyone coming from a non-euro country will now find it relatively more expensive to buy property and live there.

For instance, over the course of the previous year the British pound had a 52-week high of 1.35 euros. At that rate, a 300,000 euro house would have cost approximately £222,000.

But the pound at the time of writing is down at 1.11 euros (having almost hit parity over the Christmas period). So if that same house has dropped even as low as 250,000 euros it would still cost £225,000 for a British buyer.

And the strength of the euro against currencies such as the pound and US dollar has raised the general cost of living in Spain and elsewhere in the eurozone for many expatriates, not least retirees on pound or dollar denominated pensions.

In this sense then it’s a bit of a glum picture. And similar circumstances and scenarios can be found around the world. This recession is of truly epic and global proportions, with apparently nowhere safe from its impacts.

Yet it’s not all bad news for prospective expatriates.

I still read many articles exhorting people to move abroad, bemoaning the parlous state of their home countries and economies, and referencing places such as Australia and New Zealand, Turkey, Costa Rica and Mexico where properties and living costs remain cheaper, and the sun does still shine.

And of course they are right … to a certain extent.

There are always good property deals to be had somewhere in the world. You can always find locations where your food bills or a bottle of wine will be a fraction of what you pay now, and where you’ll be able to soak up some sun while your friends back home freeze their butts off.

But if you are seriously considering moving abroad you should take into account all the lifestyle factors when making your decision. Don’t just base your choice on the latest currency swings or property deals. Think carefully too about how comfortable you’ll feel with the local culture, what health or educational services they have, how far you’ll be from close family and friends.

Consider where you want to be for the long term, not just because of some temporary economic situation. And if that means the timing isn’t right at present to move where you feel you most want to go then don’t be afraid to be patient (as long as it isn’t an excuse for prevarication!). Ultimately it is more important to make the right move later than any old move now.

* BBC News, 9 January 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7819569.stm

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Still, at least Spring appears to have finally sprung.

It’s been a decidedly mixed start to the season here in the north-east of Spain. Short periods of warmth, when you get ready to crack open the summer wardrobe, followed by days of high winds and rain. For much of April it has been colder than it was in January and February. My three-year old daughter even saw her first hailstorm last week.  

Yet at last we are bathed in sunshine. The wind has dropped to a light sea breeze, and the mercury is rising into the mid-20s centigrade. My favourite season has (fingers crossed) arrived.

It is a wondrous time of year in our little corner of the world. Flowers explode from the hedgerows, the apple trees in the surrounding orchards are covered in pink and white blossoms, and the Mediterranean sparkles a translucent turquoise under the strengthening sun.

Unfortunately, it’s not such a joy for everyone. The guy who brings our weekly delivery of organic fruit and vegetables arrived yesterday looking thoroughly miserable. He pointed to the trees. “Pollen allergy,” he told me. And he’ll suffer with it, he said, for the next two months.

Ever since moving to Spain five years ago my wife has suffered the same. She never had a problem in England. But the change in climate and environment seems to have been the trigger. Like me, Spring was always her favourite season. Not any more. Now it is purgatory, a torment of continual sneezing, itchy eyes and nose, and sleepless nights. Three months that simply have to be endured, days and weeks wished away.

At least there’s the prospect of hot summer days on the beach to look forward to though …  

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