Vietnam near bottom in expats ranking for environment, sustainability

The country is 56th out of 60 destinations in the Environment and Sustainability Ranking based on eight factors.

It is in the bottom 10 in seven out of the eight: air quality, natural environment, water and sanitation, availability of green goods and services, power supply, local waste management, and recycling infrastructure.

To identify the best and worst countries for a sustainable life abroad, participants were asked to rate their personal satisfaction with those factors on a scale of one to seven.

The rating also included their perception of how strongly the government supports policies to protect the environment and how interested the local population is in environmental issues.

Almost seven in 10 expats have a negative opinion of the air quality in Vietnam compared to 24 percent globally, and only 38 percent are happy with the water and sanitation infrastructure compared to 72 percent globally.

Vietnam does best in natural environment, but still ends up in 50th place, with its share of negative ratings twice as high as the global average - 18 percent versus 9 percent.

Only 26 percent of expats said the government has policies to protect the environment compared to 55 percent globally.

A Dutch expat said, "Air pollution, noise, bad waste management, and rodents" as things he does not like about living in Vietnam.

Almost half the expats are dissatisfied with the availability of green goods and services and 37 percent rate power supply negatively.

InterNations polled more than 15,000 expats from 173 countries living in 181 countries and territories.

Finland secures the top spot followed by Sweden, Norway and Austria. India is at the bottom of the ranking, following Kuwait, Egypt and Indonesia.

As of July last year 91,200 foreigners from more than 100 nations and territories lived and worked in Vietnam.