Hong Kong’s back on top as, unfortunately, the most expensive city for expats, according to research.
The city moved back into the first-place slot in Mercer’s 24th annual cost of living survey, which assesses the price of goods and services in more than 200 cities.
We had plummeted all the way down to number two in last year’s rankings, handing over the dubious honor of “most expensive expat city” to Luanda, the capital city of Angola.
But thanks to a drop in Luanda’s housing market (no signs of that here) Hong Kong regained its pricey perch. Trailing Hong Kong was Tokyo, followed by Zurich, Singapore and Seoul.
Luanda, previously the most expensive, fell to sixth, while Shanghai, N’djamena in Chad, Beijing and Bern rounded out the top 10.
The study examines the cost of 200 items in each location, spanning accommodation and transport, clothes, food and entertainment.
It compares prices including the cost of a cinema ticket, a pair of jeans, a liter of water, a cup of coffee, a liter of petrol and a liter of milk.
New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons, and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
According to Mercer, Hong Kong boasted the costliest fuel overall, at about US$2 a liter.
The world’s least-expensive city for expats is Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent, ranked 209, just below Tunis in Tunisia and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
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