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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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