List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees

These are lists of the world's most expensive cities for expatriate employees (not residents), according to the Mercer,[1] ECA International[2] and Xpatulator.com [3] cost-of-living surveys. Other surveys from online collaborative indices, such as Numbeo,[4] Expatistan,[5] or Eardex[6] are not covered by this article.

Various factors enter into a city's cost-of-living for expatriate employees, such as monetary value, consumer confidence, investment, interest rates, exchange rates of the country's currency, and housing costs. This list does not account for cost-of-living savings accrued to local citizens through government-subsidized housing, health care, and education, differences in taxation, and many other factors irrelevant to expatriates. Cost of living may be much higher for expatriates than for local residents in a developing country, especially if expatriates expect a standard of living similar to a developed country.

Mercer
Luanda, Angola
Hong Kong
Zurich, Switzerland

Mercer's Cost of Living surveys are taken in March of each year. The survey covers 207 cities around the world and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city and all other cities are compared against New York. The cost of housing plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.

Two main factors determine a city’s ranking in Mercer’s survey – the relative strength of the relevant currency against the US dollar over the prior 12 months and price movements over the prior 12 months compared to those in New York City as the base.

Top ten locations surveyed (2015)[7]
Rank City Country
1Luanda Angola
2Hong Kong Hong Kong
3Zürich  Switzerland
4Singapore Singapore
5Geneva  Switzerland
6Shanghai China
7Beijing
8Seoul South Korea
9Bern  Switzerland
10N’Djamena Chad

ECA International

Every March and September, ECA International calculates the cost of living for expatriates in almost 400 cities around the world. The survey does not include certain living costs such as accommodation, utilities (electricity, gas, water costs), car purchase and school fees. These are usually compensated for separately in expatriate packages from cost of living allowances.

Top 20 cities surveyed (2015)[2]
Ranking City Country
1Juba South Sudan
2Luanda Angola
3Zürich  Switzerland
4Geneva
5Bern
6Basel
7Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo
8Shanghai China
9Beijing
10Seoul South Korea
11Oslo Norway
12Hong Kong Hong Kong
13Stavanger Norway
14Guangzhou China
15Busan South Korea
16Tokyo Japan
17Conakry Guinea
18Shenzhen China
19Singapore Singapore
20New York City United States

Asia Pacific
Top 250 cities surveyed (2015), filtered Asia Pacific[2]
Ranking City Country
Regional Global
18Shanghai China
29Beijing
310Seoul South Korea
412Hong Kong Hong Kong
514Guangzhou China
615Busan South Korea
716Tokyo Japan
818Shenzhen China
919Singapore Singapore
1021Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
1123Ulsan South Korea
1226Dalian China
1328Yokohama Japan
1431Nagoya
1532Qingdao China
1633Osaka Japan
1735Chengdu China
1836Tianjin
1939Suzhou
2041Xi'an
2142Nanjing
2243Macau Macau
2344Auckland New Zealand
2445Chongqing China
2547Wuhan
2649Wellington New Zealand
2750Xiamen China
2851Taipei Taiwan
2956Christchurch New Zealand
3057Sydney Australia
3163Canberra
3268Melbourne
3374Perth
3477Adelaide
3578Brisbane
3680Darwin
3786Kaohsiung Taiwan
38124Bangkok Thailand
39158Dhaka Bangladesh
40173Manila Philippines
41174New Delhi India
42177Jakarta Indonesia
43178Vientiane Laos
44181Phnom Penh Cambodia
45184Chiang Mai Thailand
46189Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
47190Yangon Myanmar
48197Mumbai India
49198Hanoi Vietnam
50201Ho Chi Minh City
51209Pune India
52214Chennai
53217Colombo Sri Lanka
54220Bengaluru India
55226Kolkata
56227Hyderabad
57231George Town Malaysia
58234Surabaya Indonesia
59235Johor Bahru Malaysia
60238Kathmandu Nepal
61241Islamabad Pakistan
62242Karachi
63250Ulaanbaatar Mongolia

See also

References
  1. "Mercer's 2013 Cost of Living Survey City Rankings – Global Overview". Mercer. July 23, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  2. "Hong Kong now more expensive than Tokyo for expatriates". ECA International. June 11, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  3. "Cost of Living Rankings for 2014". Xpatulator. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  4. "Cost of Living Index for 2012". Numbeo. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  5. "Expatistan Cost of Living Index". Expatistan. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  6. Eardex. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  7. "Mercer's 2015 Cost of Living - City Rankings". Mercer. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
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