teejaydee

The latest statisticts from the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture show that the number of mm2h applicants from Europe will for 2014 be the lowest since records began in 2002.

Does anyone have a view as to why this might be?

Perhaps it is that since the Global Financial Crash (which badly affected Europe of course), people are staying put due to lack of finances?

On another thread, InVinoVeritas suggested "it probably has more to do with the increase of the retirement age in Europe and concerns about security in Muslim countries (though this is largely misunderstood in the case of Malaysia)"

bakedbean

Interesting topic. I haven't seen the statistics. Have you got a link? (just being lazy)

I don't know the answer but could it be more difficult for Europeans to meet the requirements of MM2H? Times are tough these days. I don't really follow the GBP and Euro exchange rates (as I hold neither of these currencies). Has there been a significant change between the ringgit and the Euro, and the ringgit and sterling?

NeonHippy

See the attached charts. You will find that there were sharp falls for both currencies thanks to the financial crisis in Europe but that goes all the way back to 2009 reaching an all time low at the end of 2013. There has been some recovery during 2014 but as it takes time to plan and execute a move overseas it is very likely that the poor exchange rates in 2013 were enough to stop people moving during 2014. It will be interesting to see if there is a recovery in the numbers in 2015 to reflect the recent gains in these currencies.

Does Russia count as part of Europe and do you get many Russians applying for MM2H? The sinking of the rouble will make even the oligarchs think twice about investing overseas at the moment.

bakedbean

I've never seen a Russian in Penang. There sure were loads in Phuket Thailand.

InVinoVeritas

The number of Europeans taking up MM2H is very low in absolute terms with only 16 from Northern Europe up to Nov 2014. The overall MM2H numbers are well down mainly due (as I understand it) to fewer applicants from East Asia (mainly Japan) since the peak following the 2011 tsunami.

The global financial crisis might also be a reason as you can see the figures also went down during the last crisis in 2008/9.

Here's the link BB:-

Programme Statistics - MM2H Official Portal

bakedbean

Cheers IVV

In the 2014 figures to date, I am kind of surprised that the UK is up there at Number 5. So it goes (up to Nov 2014)

1. China
2. Japan
3. Bangladesh
4. Korea
5. UK
6. Taiwan
7. Singapore
8. Pakistan
9. Australia
10. Others

I would've thought Aus to be higher with their strong currency. Though, on the other hand, I gather that some Aussies need to spend a certain amount of time back in homeland for tax reasons, so maybe MM2H not required for some.

JC3

Hi,

I find the way these statistics are split into regions within Europe unhelpful.

There were 194 new MM2H participants from Europe last year (Jan-Nov 2014), about 26% less than in recent years. Of those 194 participants, 93 were from the UK and Northern Ireland - almost half (48%).

JC3

InVinoVeritas

I thought the UK would be in north Europe but clearly it's in west Europe.

mikemike

Uk get their way they will be no where near Europe lol

teejaydee

I think your point about the figures being low to start with is very valid. I am no statistician, but when figures are low it is perhaps difficult to come to a meaningful reason for any variances. However, for what it's worth, I think IVV and NeonHippy are on to something when (respectively) they suggest the GFC and falling exchange rate are contributory reasons for the fall.

teejaydee

Haha, but so far even UKIP are not suggesting they physically move the UK from its current location.