List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees

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This is a list of the world's most expensive cities, according to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting Cost of Living Surveys.[1] 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, and 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.

Contents 1 Mercer Human Resource Consulting surveys 1.1 Three most expensive cities by region (as of March 2007) 2 Economist Intelligence Unit 2006 survey 3 Expensive cities in 2007 4 Sources 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Mercer Human Resource Consulting surveys

March 2007	City	March 2005 Rank	March 2006 Rank
1	Moscow, Russia	4	1
2	London, United Kingdom	3	5
3	Seoul, South Korea	5	2
4	Tokyo, Japan	1	3
5	Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	9	4
6	Copenhagen, Denmark	8	8
7	Geneva, Switzerland	6	7
8	Osaka, Japan	2	6
9	Zurich, Switzerland	7	9
10	Oslo, Norway	10	10
11	Milan, Italy	11	13
12	St. Petersburg, Russia	15	12
13	Paris, France	12	16
14	Singapore	34	17
15	New York City, United States	13	10
16	Dublin, Ireland	13	18
17	Tel Aviv, Israel	39	24
18	Rome, Italy	17	21
19	Vienna, Austria	16	21
20	Beijing, People's Republic of China	19	14
21	Sydney, Australia	20	19
22	Helsinki, Finland	20	25
23	Stockholm, Sweden	18	36
24	Douala, Cameroon	22	27
25	Amsterdam, The Netherlands	24	41
26	Shanghai, People's Republic of China	30	20
27	Madrid, Spain		53
28	Kiev, Ukraine	54	21
29	Athens, Greece	41	56
30	Almaty, Kazakhstan		52
31	Barcelona, Spain	43	56
31	Bratislava, Slovakia	31	49
33	Dakar, Senegal	36	45
34	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	73	25
35	Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire	26	45
36	Glasgow, United Kingdom	40	60
37	Lagos, Nigeria	96	31
38	Istanbul, Turkey	22	15
39	Munich, Germany	37	65
40	Frankfurt, Germany	34	61
41	Birmingham, United Kingdom	47	69
42	Los Angeles, United States	44	29
43	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	33	56
44	Brussels, Belgium	41	70
45	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	64	30
45	Berlin, Germany	38	72
45	Dusseldorf, Germany	32	62
48	Taipei, Republic of China	29	28
49	Prague, Czech Republic	28	50
50	Algiers, Algeria		51
	Beirut, Lebanon	52	32
	Hanoi, Vietnam	50	32
	São Paulo, Brazil	119	34
	San Francisco, United States	50	34
	San Juan, Puerto Rico	42	35
	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	56	37
	Chicago, United States	52	38
	Miami, United States	57	39
	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	124	40
	Lusaka, Zambia	123	41
	White Plains, United States	45	43
	Shenzhen, People's Republic of China	63	44
	Toronto, Canada	82	47
	Jakarta, Indonesia	71	48
56	Vancouver, Canada	87	56
62	Amman, Jordan	67	62
62	Warsaw, Poland	27	62
65	Budapest, Hungary	24	65
67	Honolulu, United States	61	67
67	Aqaba, Jordan	112	67
68	Mumbai, India	105	68
71	Calgary, Canada	98	71
73	Chandigarh, India	109	73
73	New Delhi, India	110	73
74	Melbourne, Australia	68	74
75	Accra, Ghana	91	75
76	Houston, United States	70	76
77	Hamburg, Germany	49	77
78	Kuwait City, Kuwait	72	78
79	Zagreb, Croatia	48	79
80	Montreal, Canada	107	80
81	Riga, Latvia	54	81
81	Mexico City, Mexico	95	81
83	Washington, D.C., United States	78	83
84	Morristown, United States	80	84
84	Boston, United States	79	84
86	Atlanta, United States	83	86
87	Manama, Bahrain	86	87
88	Casablanca, Morocco	59	88
88	Lisbon, Portugal	66	88
90	Ottawa, Canada	122	90
91	Santiago, Chile	128	91
91	Lyon, France	61	91
93	Guatemala City, Guatemala	108	93
93	Cairo, Egypt	97	93
93	Perth, Australia	93	93
96	Tallinn, Estonia	60	96
97	Denver, United States	94	97
98	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	88	98
99	Brisbane, Australia	84	99
100	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	89	100
100	Auckland, New Zealand	69	100
102	Seattle, United States	103	102
103	Monterrey, Mexico	115	103
103	Minneapolis, United States	102	103
105	Wellington, New Zealand	76	105
106	Ljubljana, Slovenia	76	106
107	Nairobi, Kenya	119	107
108	Adelaide, Australia	89	108
109	Kingston, Jamaica	105	109
110	Cleveland, United States	109	110
111	Portland, United States	112	111
111	Sofia, Bulgaria	81	111
113	Pittsburgh, United States	111	113
114	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	117	114
114	Bucharest, Romania	103	114
116	Vilnius, Lithuania	91	116
117	Johannesburg, South Africa	116	117
118	Limassol, Cyprus	100	118
118	Lima, Peru	118	118
118	Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	113	118
121	Panama City, Panama	114	121
122	Detroit, United States	101	122
123	Leipzig, Germany	85	123
124	Winston-Salem, United States	119	124
125	Tehran, Iran	129	125
126	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	99	126
127	Bangkok, Thailand	125	127
128	Tianjin, People's Republic of China	131	128
129	Blantyre, Malawi	130	129
130	Bogotá, Colombia	133	130
131	Dhaka, Bangladesh	127	131
132	Colombo, Sri Lanka	132	132
133	Tunis, Tunisia	126	133
134	San José, Costa Rica	135	134
135	Quito, Ecuador	137	135
136	Caracas, Venezuela	138	136
137	Chennai, India	138	137
138	Montevideo, Uruguay	140	138
139	Bangalore, India	141	139
140	Karachi, Pakistan	136	140
141	Manila, Philippines	143	141
142	Buenos Aires, Argentina	142	142
143	Harare, Zimbabwe	134	143
144	Asunción, Paraguay	144	144

[edit] Three most expensive cities by region (as of March 2007)

Americas

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	New York City	▬ 100
2	Los Angeles	▲ 87.1

Australia

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Sydney	▲ 94.9
2	Melbourne	▲ 82.5
3	Adelaide	▲ 74.7 [1]

Europe

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Moscow	▲ 134.4
2	London	▲ 126.3
3	Copenhagen	▼ 110.2

Far East

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Seoul	▲ 122.4
2	Tokyo	▲ 122.1
3	Hong Kong	▲ 119.4

South-East Asia

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Singapore	▲ 100.4

Middle East & North Africa

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Tel Aviv	▲ 97.7
2	Dubai	▲ 88.8
3	Istanbul	▼ 87.7

Sub-Saharan Africa

Rank	City	Cost of Living Index
1	Douala	▲ 92.9
2	Dakar	▲ 89

[edit] Economist Intelligence Unit 2006 survey

According to a survey released in January 2006 by The Economist Group:

2006 Rank	City	2005 Rank
1	Oslo, Norway	3
2	Tokyo, Japan	1
3	Osaka/Kobe, Japan	8
4 (tie)	Reykjavík, Iceland	2
4 (tie)	Paris, France	4
6	Copenhagen, Denmark	5
7	London, United Kingdom	7
8	Zurich, Switzerland	6
9	Geneva, Switzerland	8
10	Helsinki, Finland	10
11	Brussels, Belgium	11
12	Toronto, Canada	12

[edit] Expensive cities in 2007

• • 1 Oslo
  • 2 Copenhagen
  • 3 London
  • 4 Dublin
  • 5 Zürich
  • 6 Stockholm
  • 7 Helsinki
  • 8 Genève
  • 9 Paris
  • 10 Vienna
  • 11 Luxembourg
  • 12 Tokyo
  • 13 Bruxelles
  • 14 Munich
  • 15 Lyon
  • 16 Amsterdam
  • 17 Frankfurt
  • 18 New York City
  • 19 Toronto
  • 20 Barcelona

[edit] Sources

• Vadgama's Dictionary of Interesting Facts
• The Mercer 2006 Cost of Living Survey [2]
• Finfacts Ireland [3]
• BBC News article referring to the survey [4]
• MCMXCIII News article about the survey [5]
• CNNMoney.com article about the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit [6]
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [7]
• Global/Worldwide Cost of Living [8]

[edit] See also

• List of cities by quality of living
• List of cities by Health and Sanitation
• Global city
• Expatriate
• Worldwide ERC

[edit] References