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List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees

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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, 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

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Hong Kong SAR
 
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
 
Tokyo, Japan
 
Singapore

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 it. 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 (2023)[7]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Singapore   Singapore
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Geneva
5 Basel
6 New York   United States
7 Bern   Switzerland
8 Tel Aviv   Israel
9 Copenhagen   Denmark
10 Nassau   Bahamas
Top ten locations surveyed (2022)[8]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Zürich   Switzerland
3 Geneva
4 Basel
5 Bern
6 Tel Aviv   Israel
7 New York   United States
8 Singapore   Singapore
9 Tokyo   Japan
10 Beijing   China
Top ten locations surveyed (2021)[9][10]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
2 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
3 Beirut   Lebanon
4 Tokyo   Japan
5 Zürich   Switzerland
6 Shanghai   China
7 Singapore   Singapore
8 Geneva   Switzerland
9 Beijing   China
10 Bern   Switzerland
Top ten locations surveyed (2020)[11]
Rank City Country of Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
3 Tokyo   Japan
4 Zürich   Switzerland
5 Singapore   Singapore
6 New York   United States
7 Shanghai   China
8 Bern   Switzerland
9 Geneva
10 Beijing   China
Top ten locations surveyed (2019)[12]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Tokyo   Japan
3 Singapore   Singapore
4 Seoul   South Korea
5 Zürich   Switzerland
6 Shanghai   China
7 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
8 Beijing   China
9 New York   United States
10 Shenzhen   China
Top ten locations surveyed (2018)[13]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Tokyo   Japan
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Singapore   Singapore
5 Seoul   South Korea
6 Luanda   Angola
7 Shanghai   China
8 N’Djamena   Chad
9 Beijing   China
10 Bern   Switzerland
Top ten locations surveyed (2017)[14]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Luanda   Angola
2 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
3 Tokyo   Japan
4 Zürich   Switzerland
5 Singapore   Singapore
6 Seoul   South Korea
7 Geneva   Switzerland
8 Shanghai   China
9 New York   United States
10 Bern   Switzerland
Top ten locations surveyed (2016)[15][16]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Luanda   Angola
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Singapore   Singapore
5 Tokyo   Japan
6 Kinshasa   Democratic Republic of the Congo
7 Shanghai   China
8 Geneva   Switzerland
9 N’Djamena   Chad
10 Beijing   China
Top ten locations surveyed (2015)[17][16]
Rank City Country or Region
1 Luanda   Angola
2 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Singapore   Singapore
5 Geneva   Switzerland
6 Shanghai   China
7 Beijing
8 Seoul   South Korea
9 Bern   Switzerland
10 N’Djamena   Chad

ECA International

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Zürich, Switzerland
 
Geneva, Switzerland
 
Basel, Switzerland
 
Bern, Switzerland

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 (2023)[18]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 New York   United States
2 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
3 Geneva   Switzerland
4 London   United Kingdom
5 Singapore   Singapore
6 Zürich   Switzerland
7 San Francisco   United States
8 Tel Aviv   Israel
9 Seoul   South Korea
10 Tokyo   Japan
Top 20 cities surveyed (2022)[19]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 New York   United States
3 Geneva   Switzerland
4 London   United Kingdom
5 Tokyo   Japan
6 Tel Aviv   Israel
7 Zürich   Switzerland
8 Shanghai   China
9 Guangzhou
10 Seoul   South Korea
Top 20 cities surveyed (2021)[20]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
2 Tokyo   Japan
3 Geneva   Switzerland
4 New York   United States
5 London   United Kingdom
6 Zürich   Switzerland
7 Tel Aviv   Israel
8 Seoul   South Korea
9 Shanghai   China
10 Guangzhou
Top 20 cities surveyed (2020)[21]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
2 Zürich   Switzerland
3 Geneva
4 Basel
5 Bern
6 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
7 Tokyo   Japan
8 Tel Aviv   Israel
9 Jerusalem
10 Yokohama   Japan
Top 20 cities surveyed (2019)[22]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
2 Zürich   Switzerland
3 Geneva
4 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
5 Basel   Switzerland
6 Bern
7 Tokyo   Japan
8 Seoul   South Korea
9 Tel Aviv   Israel
10 Shanghai   China
Top 20 cities surveyed (2018)[23]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Ashgabat   Turkmenistan
2 Geneva   Switzerland
3 Zürich
4 Basel
5 Bern
6 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
7 Seoul   South Korea
8 Tokyo   Japan
9 Oslo   Norway
10 Stavanger
Top 20 cities surveyed (2017)[24]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Luanda   Angola
2 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Geneva
5 Basel
6 Bern
7 Tokyo   Japan
8 Seoul   South Korea
9 Caracas   Venezuela
10 Khartoum   Sudan
Top 20 cities surveyed (2016)[25]
Ranking City Country or Region
1 Kinshasa   Democratic Republic of the Congo
2 Zürich   Switzerland
3 Geneva
4 Basel
5 Bern
6 Freetown   Sierra Leone
7 Tokyo   Japan
8 Luanda   Angola
9 Hong Kong   Hong Kong
10 Shanghai   China
Top 20 cities surveyed (2015)[2]
Ranking City Country
1 Juba   South Sudan
2 Luanda   Angola
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Geneva
5 Bern
6 Basel
7 Kinshasa   Democratic Republic of the Congo
8 Shanghai   China
9 Beijing
10 Seoul   South Korea

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mercer's 2013 Cost of Living Survey City Rankings – Global Overview". Mercer. July 23, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "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. ^ "Cost of Living City Ranking 2023". Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  8. ^ Gilchrist, Karen (2022-06-29). "These are the most expensive places to work abroad in 2022". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  9. ^ "Turkmenistan's capital tops list of most expensive cities for expats". BBC News. 22 June 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  10. ^ McKeever, Vicky (2021-06-23). "These are the most expensive cities for working abroad in 2021". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  11. ^ "Mercer's 2020 Cost of Living - City Rankings". Mercer. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  12. ^ "Mercer's 25th annual Cost of Living Survey finds cities in Asia most expensive locations for employees working abroad". Mercer. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  13. ^ Neild, Barry (2018-06-28). "World's most expensive cities for expats in 2018 revealed". CNN. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  14. ^ "Mercer's 2017 Cost of Living - City Rankings". Mercer. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "Mercer's 2016 Cost of Living - City Rankings". Mercer. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  16. ^ a b https://www.mercer.com/content/dam/mercer/attachments/global/Talent/cost-of-living/gl-2016-cost-of-living-mobility-survey-mercer.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  17. ^ "Mercer's 2015 Cost of Living - City Rankings". Mercer. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  18. ^ "Hong Kong falls one place to become the second-most expensive location in the world".
  19. ^ "Hong Kong continues its reign as the most expensive location in the world". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  20. ^ "Hong Kong remains the most expensive location in the world". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  21. ^ "Singapore remains in the top 20 most expensive locations in the world, despite impact of Covid-19". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  22. ^ "Singapore enters the top 15 most expensive locations in the world". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  23. ^ "Hong Kong now the most expensive location in East Asia for expatriates". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  24. ^ "Swiss cities dominate list of most expensive locations in the world for expats". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  25. ^ "Kinshasa tops the global rankings of most expensive cities for expatriates". www.eca-international.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
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