[11] Most Singaporeans overseas are high-income expatriates bringing their expertise or skills to other countries while accompanied by their families or students temporarily studying abroad.

Other Singaporeans living abroad includes students seeking to study in overseas universities or individuals that settled in the home countries of their foreign spouses.

In the same year, the number of Singaporeans in Malaysia increased to 44,779 individuals, surpassing the community in the United Kingdom, which had a population of 39,131.

[17] According to a 2014 survey conducted by Singapore Polytechnic, some of the top reasons why Singaporeans would go abroad were to "increase their spending, find more opportunities overseas for work and education, or have a slower pace of life".

[18] Other factors include having different lifestyles, such as having access to more outdoor natural recreational activities in other countries (e.g. backpacking, camping, hiking and skiing).