We’re not gonna lie. We’ve got it pretty good here in Singapore — safe streets, nice museums, and, of course, awesome food. But if you’re looking to pack up your life and work overseas, and cost is a major factor, you might want to keep shopping around.
That’s because Singapore is now the third-most expensive location for expats to live in, behind Hong Kong and Tokyo, according to a report released yesterday by consulting firm Mercer.
With Asia continuing to draw major foreign investment, and the expats that brings driving demand for high-quality goods, services, and accommodation, it comes as no surprise that eight of the top 10 cities named in the annual “Cost of Living” survey are in Asia, up from six the previous year.
Singapore’s red-hot housing market was the main driver in pushing the city up by one place in the rankings. Seoul came in fourth, followed by Zurich, Shanghai, Ashgabat and Beijing.
Waittaminute. Ashgabat? Weirdly (no offense, Central Asia), the capital of Turkmenistan was the biggest climber on this year’s list. The city moved up a whopping 36 spots. However, it wasn’t for reasons that would make you want to rush there, instead it was a shortage of both currency and imported goods that was blamed for driving up prices.
The annual ranking that was started 25 years ago looks at 209 cities around the world and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, household goods, food and entertainment.
The survey is carried out with an eye toward helping multinational companies and governments decide on compensation packages for qualified foreign talents they send or hire overseas.
If you’re not being sent abroad on a sweet package, you might want to take a look at Tunis, Tunisia. That city was named the cheapest place for expats in the world by Mercer. At number 209 on the list, it switched places with Tashkent in Uzbekistan, 2018’s cheapest city.
