Singapore has upped its upmarket game and positioned itself as the fourth most expensive city for expatriates, according to this year’s Cost of Living Survey by human resources consulting firm Mercer.
Ranked in fifth position last year, the city-state climbed up in the list of the world’s priciest cities for expats. In fact, Asian cities dominate the global top ten — Hong Kong is in top place, Tokyo came second, Seoul came fifth, while China’s Shanghai and Beijing placed seventh and ninth places respectively.
Luanda was the world’s most expensive spot for expats last year, but the capital city of Angola tumbled to sixth place this time around due to the fall in its currency. Mercer also attributed China’s economic growth and efforts to make the yuan an international currency as the reason why Chinese cities have gone up the rankings.
To deduce the cost of living across the world, the consultancy compares the comparative cost of over 200 items — including housing, transportation, and food — in each of the 209 cities ranked.
Singapore may be a pricey place, but according to last year’s HSBC Expat Explorer survey, the Little Red Dot was found to be the best country for expats to live and work in. Attributes such as a strong economy, impressive track record for families and confidence in financial affairs and safety push Singapore to the top of the list.
Meanwhile, local Singaporeans aren’t too happy about their elected Members of Parliament having to fork out way lesser in parking fees compared to the rest of the population.
