John Marcarian, Founder of Expatland Global Network

Expatland: The World’s Most Influential Country

Expats may account for just 3% of the world’s population, but they are changing the world and reshaping societies — and their dominance is growing as expats are expected to account for a larger share of the world’s population in the decades ahead, says John Marcarian.

John Marcarian

If Expatland were a country, it would have a population of 244 million people, which would make it the fifth largest in the world. Expatland is growing at a fast rate of 300,000 people a month, and includes a mixture of nationalities: nine million Americans, three million Germans, and more than one million Aussies, to name a few. This virtual country is hosting the most productive citizens, which, according to John Marcarian “are the 3% changing the world”. Expatland arose from John’s personal expat journey — a long-time expat himself, Marcarian understands that moving to a new country isn’t something that comes without challenges. With a mission to help facilitate a smooth transition into the new life of an expat, he wrote the Expatland book in 2015, with information and practical advice on taxes, education, cultural differences, retirement, and local laws.

Supporting Expats

In 2018, Marcarian launched the Expatland Global Network, an organisation that provides a one-stop-shop for all the services an expat needs for a smooth integration, to support people who are looking to join the expatriate community in various cities and regions across the globe. The Expatland Global Network is made up of Expatland teams. E-teams consist of professionals who provide support, services and products, which fall into four categories: tax and finance; health and wellness; logistics; and lifestyle. Operating at a city level, each E-team operates under the leadership of a group leader, responsible for ensuring that a client has a good experience as he or she moves through the team, which delivers all the essential local knowledge relevant to a specific location. “Expatland is a free of charge service for the expat — our clients don’t even need to sign up to become a member, we simply introduce them to service providers, which then charge the usual fees,” Marcarian explains. “We launched Expatland less than a year ago and it has already spread to many global locations, with more than 16 E-Teams in Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Budapest, Frankfurt and London, amongst others, with a goal to have 50 E-Teams by the end of 2020,” Marcarian says. There are two types of Exapatland members: a global executive and a global founder establishing a company or moving a business across borders. “Our customer base is diverse, with clients coming from Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the US,” Marcarian says. “Potentially, I believe there can and should be a collaboration between Expatland and the RCBI industry, given that moving abroad for any reason necessitates the interaction between the expat and the local E-Team. I believe there would be demand, though we have not yet developed the channel.”

Global Dominance

Expatriates contribute significantly to the countries they move to — the skills they bring, the taxes they pay, and the jobs they fill; these positive contributions to host economies cannot be ignored, and according to Marcarian, global growth rests on the shoulders of expats. “Expatriates bring with them a unique set of skills, international experience, and contacts, diversifying the local talent pool. In fact, our research reveals that immigrants add to the GDP of the country they are moving to regardless of their socio-economic status. In addition to contributing to economic output, expatriates have a strong impact on society as a whole,” he says. “Take Atlanta for example, there are 50,000 Germans living in the city. They brought their knowledge, skills and ideas, which means they affect local culture, food, and even the local way of doing things.”

Future Outlook

“Expatland is destined to grow with the potential to become the third largest country in the world,” says John Marcarian. The latest revised projection is that the number of international migrants will exceed 405 million by 2050, or nearly 7% of the global population — and Marcarian says he will not be surprised, as it seems that a record-breaking number of people want to be expats: “Research from Gallup World Poll reveals that 750 million people around the world would move to another country if they could.” E-Teams have already been established in some of the top expat destinations, with many more cities launching in 2019. “Our network is growing quickly, and we are actively looking for new destinations to expand to, typically the top expat cities,” Marcarian says. So where do expats want to live? The answer is all over the world, but the richest metropolitan areas tend to attract a larger number of expats. “The majority of potential migrants would like to move to the US, followed by London and other bigger cities. However, a number of new locations emerged recently, including Austin, Abu Dhabi, and Doha — wherever you have a strong economy, you see expats being attracted.” “Overall, the rise of China has had a major impact on our members and the cities in which we are planning to expand our network. The Belt and Road Initiative spans all the way from China to Europe by land and by sea routes; it also includes countries like Sri Lanka and Kenya. It is bringing new investment and massive infrastructure projects that will transform the key locations, making them the most cosmopolitan and multicultural cities in the world,” Marcarian says. “However, if we look at the biggest market for us to develop, it’s definitely Africa. Africa holds much promise — it has arguably become the world’s most attractive investment destination, and African economies offer tremendous opportunities. We have just developed our first E-Team in Kenya, and potentially, there are 55 countries to look into in terms of company expansion.”

BIO: John Marcarian is a chartered accountant, international tax advisor, and the founder of both CST Tax Advisors and Expatland. At CST, he provides tax consultancy to clients in multi-markets, including global expatriates and businesses moving across borders. Based on his knowledge of common expat issues and his own experience as a widely travelled Aussie expat, John wrote the Expatland guide book in 2015.