Ranked: most expensive cities for expats

Hong Kong tops the ranking of the world’s most expensive cities for expats while five European cities also feature in the top 10

According to a new report, Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, followed by Singapore and Zurich in Switzerland. At the other end of the spectrum, the cheapest cities for foreign workers are Islamabad in Pakistan, Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria.

Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm, has released its annual Cost of Living Survey, a ranking of 226 cities across the world.

The survey measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each city, including transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

Conducted in March 2024, the study helps multinational companies and governments design compensation packages for their foreign employees and manage international assignment costs.

To ensure consistency in the comparison of cities, New York is used as the base city and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.

“Cost-of-living challenges have had a significant impact on multinational organisations and their employees. It is important for organizations to stay informed about cost-of-living trends and inflation rates and seek input from employees on these issues to effectively manage their effects.”

– Yvonne Traber, Global Mobility Leader, Mercer

The latest analysis reveals that inflation and exchange-rate fluctuations are directly affecting the pay and savings of international employees.

Furthermore, heightened economic and geopolitical volatility such as conflicts and climate emergencies, have caused costs to increase in areas such as housing, utilities, taxes and education.

In the case of higher-ranking cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich, factors such as rapidly increasing housing, transport and the price of goods and services have all contributed to higher living costs.

Conversely, at the other end of the ranking in cities such as Islamabad, Lagos and Abuja, the lower costs of living for international workers have been driven by currency depreciations.

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 insights for potential foreign workers looking to determine how expensive their new city will 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.

“High living costs may cause assignees to adjust their lifestyle, cut back on discretionary spending or even struggle to meet their basic needs. To offset these challenges, employers can offer compensation packages that include housing allowances or subsidies or provide other support services. They can also explore alternative talent sourcing strategies.”

– Yvonne Traber, Global Mobility Leader, Mercer

The survey analyses the price of goods and services in over 400 cities with substantial expat communities across the globe.

The index reflects the prices of over 200 items from the following categories:

• Housing
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Food
• Domestic supplies
• Home services
• Personal care
• Clothing and footwear
• Recreation and entertainment
• Alcohol and tobacco

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 of 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

Of the 10 most expensive cities for expats, half are in Western Europe, with Switzerland home to four. However, it is Asian cities that top the list, with Hong Kong and Singapore in first and second place. The two most affordable cities are Lagos (225) and Abuja (226), both in Nigeria.

Dubai has jumped up the rankings to become the most expensive city for expats in the Middle East. It is ranked 15th, up three places from 2023. It is followed by Tel Aviv (16), Abu Dhabi (43), Riyadh (90) and Jeddah (97).

In South America, Montevideo (42) in Uruguay is the most expensive city for expats. It is followed by Buenos Aires (77) and Sao Paulo (124). In the Pacific region, Sydney (58) is the most expensive city for expats, followed by Noumea (60) in New Caledonia, Melbourne (73) and Brisbane (89).

Complete Cost of Living Ranking

The ranking lists 226 global cities with significant expat populations. They are ranked from the most expensive to live, down to the least expensive.

Rank	City	Country	Change
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong (SAR)	0
2	Singapore	Singapore	0
3	Zurich	Switzerland	0
4	Geneva	Switzerland	0
5	Basel	Switzerland	0
6	Bern	Switzerland	1
7	New York	USA	-1
8	London	UK	9
9	Nassau	Bahamas	1
10	Los Angeles	USA	1
11	Copenhagen	Denmark	-2
12	Honolulu	USA	3
13	San Francisco	USA	1
14	Bangui	Central African Rep	12
15	Dubai	UAE	3
16	Tel Aviv	Israel	-8
17	Miami	USA	5
18	Djibouti City	Djibouti	9
19	Boston	USA	2
20	Chicago	USA	4
21	N'djamena	Chad	19
22	Washington	USA	1
23	Shanghai	China	-11
24	Vienna	Austria	1
25	Beijing	China	-12
26	Conakry	Guinea	13
27	Atlanta	USA	2
28	Seattle	USA	3
29	Paris	France	6
30	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-2
31	Berlin	Germany	6
32	Seoul	South Korea	-16
33	Mexico City	Mexico	46
34	Shenzhen	China	-14
35	Frankfurt	Germany	13
36	San Jose	Costa Rica	27
37	Brussels	Belgium	4
38	Munich	Germany	0
39	Dakar	Senegal	27
40	Helsinki	Finland	-6
41	Dublin	Ireland	10
42	Montevideo	Uruguay	12
43	Abu Dhabi	UAE	0
44	The Hague	Netherlands	2
45	Libreville	Gabon	7
46	Philadelphia	USA	4
47	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	11
48	San Juan	Puerto Rico	-4
49	Tokyo	Japan	-30
50	Houston	USA	11

51	Dusseldorf	Germany	23
52	Oslo	Norway	8
53	Edinburgh	UK	33
54	Hamburg	Germany	8
55	Dallas	USA	-2
56	Prague	Czech Rep	-23
57	Milan	Italy	-8
58	Sydney	Australia	-2
59	Minneapolis	USA	8
60	Noumea	New Caledonia	10
61	Riga	Latvia	3
62	Pittsburgh	USA	3
63	Douala	Cameroon	18
64	Victoria	Seychelles	-22
65	Portland	USA	7
66	Barcelona	Spain	9
67	Rome	Italy	-8
68	Glasgow	UK	41
69	Taipei	Taiwan	-12
70	Stuttgart	Germany	-1
71	Guangzhou	China	-35
72	St. Louis	USA	6
73	Melbourne	Australia	-2
74	Brazzaville	Congo	10
75	Lyon	France	17
76	Madrid	Spain	7
77	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-32
78	Birmingham	UK	40
79	Kinshasa	DR Congo	-47
80	Abidjan	Côte D'ivoire	-3
81	Detroit	USA	-1
82	Aberdeen	UK	37
83	Bratislava	Slovakia	21
84	Cleveland	USA	4
85	Nuremberg	Germany	11
86	Leipzig	Germany	5
87	Belfast	UK	38
88	Busan	South Korea	-20
89	Brisbane	Australia	-7
90	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	-5
91	Yaounde	Cameroon	11
92	Toronto	Canada	-2
93	Qingdao	China	-38
94	Pointe-A-Pitre	Guadeloupe	9
95	Toulouse	France	26
96	Tallinn	Estonia	4
97	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	4
98	Accra	Ghana	80
99	Kingston	Jamaica	28
100	Lisbon	Portugal	17

101	Vancouver	Canada	15
102	Stockholm	Sweden	-7
103	Tirana	Albania	50
104	Athens	Greece	-7
105	Nanjing	China	-32
106	Canberra	Australia	-12
107	Adelaide	Australia	-1
108	Amman	Jordan	2
109	Perth	Australia	-2
110	Manama	Bahrain	-12
111	Auckland	New Zealand	0
112	Shenyang	China	-36
113	Vilnius	Lithuania	10
114	Port Of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	6
115	Monterrey	Mexico	40
116	Harare	Zimbabwe	-2
117	Ljubljana	Slovenia	26
118	Montreal	Canada	17
119	Kuwait City	Kuwait	12
120	Bamako	Mali	8
121	Doha	Qatar	5
122	Muscat	Oman	8
123	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	9
124	Sao Paulo	Brazil	28
125	Chengdu	China	-36
126	Ottawa	Canada	11
127	Guatemala City	Guatemala	9
128	Lome	Togo	6
129	Bangkok	Thailand	-24
130	Istanbul	Turkiye	55
131	Manila	Philippines	2
132	Taichung	Taiwan	-8
133	Suzhou	China	-21
134	Chongqing	China	-35
135	Warsaw	Poland	35
136	Mumbai	India	11
137	Zagreb	Croatia	9
138	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	56
139	Xian	China	-31
140	Dhaka	Bangladesh	14
141	Calgary	Canada	4
142	Cotonou	Benin	2
143	Budapest	Hungary	18
144	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	5
145	Wellington	New Zealand	-6
146	Osaka	Japan	-53
147	Wuhan	China	-25
148	Quito	Ecuador	2
149	Kaohsiung	Taiwan	-11
150	Rio De Janeiro	Brazil	21

151	Panama City	Panama	-3
152	Niamey	Niger	5
153	Casablanca	Morocco	5
154	Yokohama	Japan	-39
155	Bucharest	Romania	-13
156	Yerevan	Armenia	-15
157	Jakarta	Indonesia	-6
158	Luanda	Angola	-128
159	Belgrade	Serbia	16
160	Santiago	Chile	-73
161	Nagoya	Japan	-48
162	Sofia	Bulgaria	6
163	Limassol	Cyprus	2
164	Maputo	Mozambique	-5
165	New Delhi	India	4
166	Lima	Peru	1
167	Santo Domingo	Dominican Rep	-7
168	Cairo	Egypt	49
169	Wroclaw	Poland	17
170	Bujumbura	Burundi	-41
171	Baku	Azerbaijan	6
172	Hanoi	Vietnam	-16
173	Rabat	Morocco	1
174	Bogota	Colombia	40
175	Krakow	Poland	15
176	Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei	-4
177	Kampala	Uganda	-11
178	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	-14
179	Brasilia	Brazil	9
180	San Salvador	El Salvador	-4
181	Dar Es Salaam	Tanzania	-19
182	Manaus	Brazil	14
183	Yangon	Myanmar	21
184	Tegucigalpa	Honduras	-5
185	Belo Horizonte	Brazil	14
186	Nouakchott	Mauritania	-23
187	Port Louis	Mauritius	0
188	Tbilisi	Georgia	-7
189	Chennai	India	-5
190	Colombo	Sri Lanka	25
191	Almaty	Kazakhstan	17
192	Asuncion	Paraguay	0
193	Antananarivo	Madagascar	0
194	Algiers	Algeria	12
195	Bengaluru	India	-6
196	La Paz	Bolivia	-1
197	Managua	Nicaragua	4
198	Skopje	Macedonia	2
199	Kigali	Rwanda	-8
200	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	-20

201	Nairobi	Kenya	-28
202	Hyderabad	India	0
203	Sarajevo	Bosnia-Herzegovina	0
204	Banjul	Gambia	3
205	Pune	India	8
206	Johannesburg	South Africa	-1
207	Kolkata	India	4
208	Ankara	Turkiye	13
209	Cape Town	South Africa	1
210	Tunis	Tunisia	9
211	Vientiane	Laos	-2
212	Minsk	Belarus	-30
213	Lusaka	Zambia	-16
214	Johor Bahru	Malaysia	-2
215	Gaborone	Botswana	1
216	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	2
217	Havana	Cuba	8
218	Windhoek	Namibia	4
219	Durban	South Africa	1
220	Dushanbe	Tajikistan	3
221	Blantyre	Malawi	-23
222	Karachi	Pakistan	4
223	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	1
224	Islamabad	Pakistan	3
225	Lagos	Nigeria	-178
226	Abuja	Nigeria	-86

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