MSAR jumps to 13th place in most expensive cities for expats rank

A man looks at a Chinese one-hundred yuan banknote in front of a currency exchange store in Macau

A survey by ECA International has revealed that Chinese cities now account for more than half of the Asia-Pacific’s top 20 most expensive cities for expatriates. The survey found that 11 Chinese cities dominated the list, including Beijing (2), Hong Kong (3) and Macau (13).
Macau saw the largest rank increase for the Asia-Pacific region in 2015, rising from 34th position last year to 13th place in 2015. The MSAR also jumped 70 places in the global rankings to edge into the global top 30.
Shanghai (1) and Beijing (2), both moved up two places in the rankings this year from 3rd and 4th last year respectively, while Hong Kong (3) climbed seven places after ranking 10th in 2014.
The strengthening of the renminbi against major currencies such as the euro may account for the recent findings, says ECA’s Asia regional director, Lee Quane.
“In spite of the minor depreciation in the renminbi against the dollar (USD) over the summer, [the renminbi] has strengthened against most other currencies, leading to Shanghai becoming the most expensive Asian city for international assignees,” Quane said, cited by the Economic Times.
Equally, Hong Kong’s climb to 3rd could be attributed to the relative strengthening of its currency over the last year, the ECA suggested. The depreciation of the Chinese currency against the USD has caused Hong Kong to become more expensive, owing to its currency being pegged to the dollar.
A year ago, Singapore ranked alongside Hong Kong in the rankings, 9th and 10th respectively. The price of goods and services in ECA’s 2014 “shopping basket” selection showed Singapore to be about 1 percent more expensive than Hong Kong. However, this year it has been reported to be 8 percent less expensive than the HKSAR.
According to Lee Quane, the results reflect “the general trend seen in China with Chinese locations gradually moving up our rankings over recent years.”
“It is likely that major Chinese cities will remain expensive destinations for mobile executives for the foreseeable future,” he added.
Meanwhile, Australian locations continue to fall in the rankings. Sydney remains the most expensive Australian city, but it currently ranks 80th in the global list, down from last year’s place of 27th. Staff reporter