Hong Kong retained its pole place because the world’s costliest metropolis for expats in 2024, in line with Mercer.
Chunyip Wong | E+ | Getty Pictures
Asia’s greatest monetary hubs have as soon as once more clinched the highest spots for being the most costly cities for worldwide staff to stay in, in line with Mercer.
Hong Kong was ranked as the costliest metropolis for expats to stay in, adopted by Singapore and Zurich, in line with the Price of Dwelling Metropolis Rating 2024.
Cities in Switzerland — Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Bern — snagged 4 out of 10 spots. New York Metropolis ranked No. 7.
The highest 5 spots had no change from the yr earlier than, however London climbed 9 positions from No. 17 to eight.
Prime 10 costliest cities for expats:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Basel, Switzerland
- Bern, Switzerland
- New York Metropolis, United States
- London, United Kingdom
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Los Angeles, United States
The survey in contrast the prices of greater than 200 gadgets in every of the 226 cities studied — together with the worth of housing, transportation, meals, clothes, family items and leisure.
New York Metropolis was used because the benchmark and forex fluctuations had been measured towards the U.S. greenback.
Cities in Nigeria, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan had been the least costly cities for expats to stay in, with Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria falling 178 and 86 spots respectively to No. 225 and 226.
Sky-high housing markets
Excessive inflation and rising financial and geopolitical tensions have pushed up housing costs, utilities, native taxes and training, the Mercer report mentioned.
“Excessive residing prices might trigger assignees to regulate their way of life, in the reduction of on discretionary spending and even wrestle to satisfy their primary wants,” Yvonne Traber, Mercer’s world mobility chief, highlighted within the press launch.
Other than Nassau, Bahamas, all different cities within the prime 10 reported an increase in housing prices from 2023, with an 8% worth leap in Hong Kong and Singapore, 7% in New York Metropolis and 6% in Zurich.
“Between 2023 and 2024, there was quite a lot of volatility on this price world wide, with housing rental costs various considerably between cities,” the report mentioned.
Costs have additionally risen as housing provide didn’t sustain with demand.
“Such prices could be notably difficult in areas with excessive inhabitants development or with restricted land out there for growth. Different elements, resembling development prices and land costs, also can have an effect on housing affordability,” the report famous, including that this would go away workers with much less disposable earnings for different bills.
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