These are the world’s most expensive cities for expats

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, according to an annual cost of living report produced by consultancy Mercer.

The finance hub tops an Asia-dominated list with Tokyo in second place, Singapore fourth, Seoul fifth, Shanghai seventh and Beijing in ninth place. Outside of Asia, European and African cities were among the priciest cities for employees. Zurich ranked third and Luanda came in sixth.

Currency fluctuations are the dominant reason for Asia topping the list – Hong Kong took pole position from Luanda, reflecting the fall in Angola’s currency. China’s economic growth and efforts to make the yuan an international currency have pushed Chinese cities up the rankings.

“Stronger Chinese monetary regulation, a flourishing economy and a push to have the Chinese Yuan as an international currency pushed Chinese cities up in the ranking,” noted a press release from the firm. “However, significant surges in other locations worldwide caused Japanese cities, Osaka and Nagoya in particular, to fall in this year’s ranking.”

“Asia’s cities, especially Chinese cities, have shown strong performance in terms of cost of living rankings, mainly due to currency fluctuations. Companies are moving top talent around the globe in response to skills shortages,” Mario Ferraro, Mercer’s Global Mobility Practice Leader for Asia, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, said in a release.

Meanwhile, Australian cities fell in this year’s ranking, with Brisbane (84), Perth (61) and Melbourne (58) falling 13, 11 and 12 spots respectively, while Sydney, Australia’s most expensive ranked city for expatriates, experienced a relatively moderate drop of five places to 29th.

Overall, Western European cities have risen in the rankings, a result of strong local currencies against the US dollar and the cost of goods and services. In particular, cities in Germany experienced some of this year’s biggest surges in the ranking, while those in the UK also climbed several places, led by London which jumped 10 spots to rank 19.

Mercer uses New York as the base city for all comparisons and measures currency moves against the dollar. The 2018 survey ranked 209 cities across five continents, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location including housing, transportation, food and clothing, according to Mercer. MDT/Bloomberg