The world’s most expensive cities for expats have been re-assessed in 2019 with eight of the top 10 located in Asia.

Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm, has released its annual Cost of Living Survey, now in its 25th year. As with last year, unstable housing markets, low inflation and fluctuating prices for goods and services are impacting the cost of doing business in various cities around the world – changing how and where multinationals operate.

The digital era, ageing populations, skills shortages and unpredictable political and economic contexts are further changing the landscape of global business.

Multinationals are embracing this transformation by offering remote jobs that are critical for accessing new talent, often in unexpected corners of the world. 

Comparing the cost of living

It is important to remember that the ranking is not designed for locals. It is designed for multinational companies looking to place expat employees and is used as a tool to calculate how much overseas workers should be paid. It also provides an indication to potential expats looking to determine how expensive their new country could be to live in.

Mercer uses New York as its base city and the US dollar as the base currency. The results differ from other surveys such as the Economist’s Worldwide Cost of Living as Mercer focuses specifically on products bought by expats.

If you’re a hiring manager looking to send an analyst to Kuala Lumpur, you need to know how much it costs to live there so you are compensating that worker fairly. It’s easier to consult a ready-made list than to do your own research on the ground. Most companies who use these lists are placing highly-skilled professionals or managers who are likely to earn more than the average local salary. 

Bryan Lufkin, BBC Capital

The survey analyses the price of over 200 goods and services in over 360 cities with substantial expat communities across the globe. The methodology assumes spending patterns among expats from different nationalities remain the same.

The weighting of goods and services are the same for all locations. The approach compares prices of comparable brands and retail outlets in both the home and host cities.

A drawback with this methodology is that certain factors can skew a city’s rating. For example, the high cost of car ownership and fuel in Singapore could propel it further up the rankings.

Region by region

Hong Kong (1) and Tokyo (2) have remained the world’s most expensive cities for expats. Singapore (3), Seoul (4) and Zurich (5) round out the top five meaning four out of five of the world’s most expensive cities for expats are in Asia.

Other cities in the top 10 include the Chinese cities of Shanghai (6), Beijing (8) and Shenzhen (10) as well as Ashgabat (7) in Turkmenistan, up 36 places from last year. The world’s least expensive cities for expats are Tunis (209), Tashkent (208) and Karachi (207).

New York (9) remains the most expensive city in the Americas. Zurich (5) remains the most expensive city in Europe, followed by Bern (12) and Geneva (13), all three in Switzerland.

Ndjamena (11) in Chad is the most expensive city for expats in Africa. Victoria (14) in the Seychelles follows, rising seven places. Moving up 15 spots, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (22) is the next African city on the list, followed by Libreville (24) in Gabon.

Mumbai (67) is India’s most expensive city, followed by New Delhi (118) and Chennai (154). Tel Aviv (15) remains the Middle East’s most expensive city for expats, followed by Dubai (21), Abu Dhabi (33) and Riyadh (35).

World’s most expensive cities for expats ranking

Sort the table below by cost of living or country to view the world’s most expensive cities for expats.

Rank	City	Country/region	± 2018
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong (SAR)	-
2	Tokyo	Japan	-
3	Singapore	Singapore	1
4	Seoul	South Korea	1
5	Zurich	Switzerland	-2
6	Shanghai	China	1
7	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	36
8	Beijing	China	1
9	New York City	United States	4
10	Shenzhen	China	2
11	Ndjamena	Chad	-3
12	Bern	Switzerland	-2
13	Geneva	Switzerland	-2
14	Victoria	Seychelles	7
15	Tel Aviv	Israel	1
16	San Francisco	United States	12
17	Guangzhou	China	-2
18	Los Angeles	United States	17
19	Osaka	Japan	4
20	Copenhagen	Denmark	-6
21	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	5
22	Kinshasa	Dem. Rep. of the Congo	15
23	London	United Kingdom	-4
24	Libreville	Gabon	-6
25	Lagos	Nigeria	17
26	Luanda	Angola	-20
27	Moscow	Russia	-10
27	Nanjing	China	-2
29	Noumea	New Caledonia	-7
30	Abidjan	Côte d'Ivoire	-6
30	Chengdu	China	1
32	Tianjin	China	-3
33	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	7
33	Nagoya	Japan	8
35	Taipei	Taiwan	-8
35	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	10
37	Chicago	United States	14
38	Honolulu	United States	16
39	Brazzaville	Congo	-20
40	Bangkok	Thailand	12
41	Qingdao	China	-5
42	Washington	United States	14
43	Dublin	Ireland	-11
44	Miami	United States	16
45	Milan	Italy	-12
45	Shenyang	China	-7
47	Paris	France	-13
47	Dhaka	Bangladesh	19
49	Boston	United States	21
50	Sydney	Australia	-21
51	Vienna	Austria	-12
52	Yaounde	Cameroon	-9
53	Beirut	Lebanon	12
54	Bangui	Central African Republic	-6
55	Rome	Italy	-9
56	White Plains	United States	23
57	Manama	Bahrain	20
58	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-8
59	Djibouti	Djibouti	14
59	Houston	United States	27
61	Oslo	Norway	-14
62	Dallas	United States	23
63	Accra	Ghana	-
64	Seattle	United States	26
65	Helsinki	Finland	-12
66	Douala	Cameroon	7
67	Mumbai	India	-12
67	Munich	Germany	-10
69	Atlanta	United States	26
70	Montevideo	Uruguay	5
70	Morristown	United States	27
72	Dakar	Senegal	-10
72	San Juan	Puerto Rico	23
74	Frankfurt	Germany	-6
75	St. Petersburg	Russia	-26
75	Amman	Jordan	19
77	Brussels	Belgium	-10
78	Minneapolis	United States	24
79	Melbourne	Australia	-21
79	Santiago	Chile	-10
81	Berlin	Germany	-10
82	Madrid	Spain	-18
83	Port Of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	14
84	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-13
85	Abuja	Nigeria	14
86	Sao Paulo	Brazil	-28
87	Perth	Australia	-26
88	Conakry	Guinea	18
89	Auckland	New Zealand	-8
90	Detroit	United States	26
91	Barcelona	Spain	-12
92	Dusseldorf	Germany	-10
93	Panama City	Panama	21
94	St. Louis	United States	28
95	Lisbon	Portugal	-2
96	Canberra	Australia	-19
97	Prague	Czech Republic	-14
97	Nairobi	Kenya	26
97	Pittsburgh	United States	28
100	Hamburg	Germany	-12
100	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	17
102	Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei	4
103	Brisbane	Australia	-19
103	Muscat	Oman	14
105	Jakarta	Indonesia	12
106	Cleveland	United States	19
107	Portland	United States	23
108	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	34
109	Adelaide	Australia	-22
109	Manila	Philippines	29
111	Riga	Latvia	-19
112	Vancouver	Canada	-3
112	Hanoi	Vietnam	25
114	Wellington	New Zealand	-13
115	Toronto	Canada	-6
115	Doha	Qatar	-
117	Yangon	Myanmar	-26
118	New Delhi	India	-15
119	Kuwait City	Kuwait	2
120	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	4
121	Rio De Janeiro	Brazil	-22
121	Lima	Peru	11
123	Lyon	France	-18
124	Bamako	Mali	-4
125	Pointe A Pitre	Guadeloupe	-21
126	Stuttgart	Germany	-18
127	Stockholm	Sweden	-38
128	Cotonou	Benin	-17
128	Athens	Greece	-16
128	Casablanca	Morocco	-
131	Bratislava	Slovakia	-18
131	San Jose	Costa Rica	10
133	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-57
133	Havana	Cuba	32
135	Birmingham	United Kingdom	-7
136	Guatemala City	Guatemala	-6
137	Aberdeen	United Kingdom	-3
138	Winston Salem	United States	23
139	Montreal	Canada	8
140	Tallinn	Estonia	-
141	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	4
142	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-10
143	Zagreb	Croatia	-5
144	Mexico City	Mexico	13
145	Lome	Togo	-11
145	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	-11
145	Glasgow	United Kingdom	3
148	Quito	Ecuador	8
149	Niamey	Niger	-6
150	Kiev	Ukraine	23
151	Nuremberg	Germany	-6
152	Vilnius	Lithuania	-4
153	Calgary	Canada	1
154	Chennai	India	-10
154	Istanbul	Turkey	9
156	Leipzig	Germany	-6
157	Kingston	Jamaica	7
158	Belfast	United Kingdom	-6
159	Maputo	Mozambique	20
160	Rabat	Morocco	5
161	Limassol	Cyprus	-8
161	Ottawa	Canada	-1
161	Port Louis	Mauritius	-
164	Budapest	Hungary	-13
165	Port Au Prince	Haiti	-40
166	Tirana	Albania	6
166	San Salvador	El Salvador	8
166	Cairo	Egypt	22
169	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	9
170	Bogota	Colombia	-2
171	Dar Es Salaam	Tanzania	9
171	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	12
173	Warsaw	Poland	-19
174	Brasilia	Brazil	-16
175	Kigali	Rwanda	-6
176	Bucharest	Romania	-
177	Sofia	Bulgaria	-2
178	Baku	Azerbaijan	8
179	Bengaluru	India	-9
180	Cape Town	South Africa	-10
181	Belgrade	Serbia	-
182	Colombo	Sri Lanka	-24
183	Kampala	Uganda	9
184	Algiers	Algeria	11
185	Johannesburg	South Africa	-8
186	Asuncion	Paraguay	-3
187	Monterrey	Mexico	6
188	Harare	Zimbabwe	-23
189	Kolkata	India	-7
189	Gaborone	Botswana	-
191	Almaty	Kazakhstan	-4
192	Nouakchott	Mauritania	2
193	Blantyre	Malawi	11
194	Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-3
195	La Paz	Bolivia	4
196	Lusaka	Zambia	-11
197	Yerevan	Armenia	1
198	Minsk	Belarus	4
199	Tegucigalpa	Honduras	2
200	Managua	Nicaragua	-
201	Skopje	Macedonia	-4
202	Tbilisi	Georgia	1
203	Islamabad	Pakistan	-13
204	Windhoek	Namibia	-8
204	Banjul	Gambia	2
206	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	1
207	Karachi	Pakistan	-2
208	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	1
209	Tunis	Tunisia	-1

Lead image: Dreamstime