Macau rises up list of most expensive cities for expats

Macau’s rank among the most expensive locations for expatriates in Asia has climbed to the 15th spot, 10 places up from a previous ranking, according to a study conducted by ECA International.
The rating agency’s cost of living surveys were carried out between March and September using a hypothetical basket of day-to-day common goods and services purchased by assignees.
Amid the pandemic outbreak and its effect on the city’s economy, the inflation rate in the SAR has dropped slightly from 2.75% in January to 2.53% in May.
The group said that other Chinese cities have all dropped in the most recent cost of living rankings this year. This includes Beijing and Shanghai, which both fell nine places – coming in at 24th and 19th place respectively.
Hong Kong has also dropped slightly in the rankings after falling behind the Swiss cities of Basel and Bern, and now sitting outside of the top five most expensive locations globally.
“Despite experiencing political and social unrest over the course of 2019, and more recently the impact of Covid-19 which has led to the reluctance of people moving to the city, Hong Kong has only seen a small drop in the global rankings amid the uncertainties,” according to Lee Quane, Regional Director, Asia at ECA International.
“Although it has been overtaken by Bern and Basel, Hong Kong is still one of the most expensive places for overseas workers to live in and is still costlier than other Asian expatriate hubs such as Tokyo and Singapore,” Quane explained. LV