Living in Brunei

Brunei is an oil economy, and energy is the reason most outsiders are there at all. The pay is good and goes almost untaxed, and even against costs that run on the higher side, it leaves a real margin to save. The way in is narrow, though, because hiring beyond the energy sector is hard and the country isn't built around taking in newcomers from a wide range of fields. For someone in oil and gas, it can be a quietly rewarding posting.

Brunei draws a sizable share of its people from the wider region. About 118.7K residents — 26% of the population — were born abroad, led by 56.4K from neighboring Malaysia, followed by Thailand and the Philippines. The foreign-born population has grown 17% over the decade, and against a diaspora of roughly 47,000, the sultanate is a steady net destination.