The best and worst countries to raise a family

The UK is worse than Bahrain, Spain, Mexico, and the UAE for raising a family, according to a new index.

According to HSBC's ranking of expats' responses in the Expat Explorer report, the UK is the 29th best country for families.

The ranking is based on questions relating to:

• Social life
• Closeness to partner
• Tolerance
• Childcare quality
• School quality
• Overall cost of children
• Health
• Integration
• Quality of life

Eruropean countries fared well in the index of 45 countries, while South American countries fared poorly.

Sweden came top of the rankings, with nearly three quarters of expat parents in Sweden rating their children’s quality of life as better than back home.

Forty-six per cent said the quality of education was better and 72 per cent said it was less expensive, while 75 per cent said the quality of childcare available was better.

The full rankings are as follows:

More: These are the world's 10 most expensive cities for expats