Of Dutch expats working abroad at the moment, most of them are abroad to gain experience and two thirds of them want to eventually return home to the Netherlands.

The profile of a typical Dutch expat is very different from that of a Belgian equivalent, for example, who is typically working abroad because of the financial crisis and for better career opportunities. Belgian expats rarely express a desire to eventually return home, and the same is true of the typical French expat.

These are the first results of a global study of expats published in the most recent edition of career magazine Intermediair's weekly newsletter. The research was carried out by the international mobility company Intelligence Group, and will be formally presented on December 11 in Rotterdam.

The countries where the highest percentage of expats plan to eventually return to their home countries are Australia (84 percent), Brazil (74 percent), the Netherlands (62 percent), and China (61 percent).

Meanwhile, around 90 percent of expats from Israel, Belgium, and Greece have no plans of returning to their home countries. For expats from Belarus, a staggering 95 percent do not want to return home.