Luanda, not Hong Kong, the most expensive town for expats

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Angola’s capital Luanda has overtaken Hong Kong to become the costliest city in the world for expats, Mercer’s annual survey said Wednesday.

According to Mercer’s 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey, Luanda was the costliest city, driven by cost of goods and security, followed by Hong Kong and Tokyo at the second and third places, respectively.
Others in the top 10 include Zurich at the 4th place, Singapore (5th), Seoul (6th), Geneva (7th), Shanghai (8th), New York City (9th), and Bern (10th).

Lots of European cities were on the way down, particularly in Britain due to the weakness of the pound. Paris, Vienna and Rome also became less expensive for the expat purse. Moscow (14) and St Petersburg (36) rose 53 and 116 places from last year respectively, due to the strong appreciation of the ruble against the US dollar and the cost of goods and services.

London has fallen to just 30th place in the rankings, partly because of the pound's devaluation, with other big UK cities also dropping down the rankings.
"UK cities have fallen again this year as the British pound weakened before, and after, the EU referendum last summer," said Kate Fitzpatrick of Mercer.
"However, London did not drop as far as may be expected, with steep prices keeping London as one of the most expensive cities for expatriates worldwide.
"The capital's rental costs remain at the higher end globally and have remained stable, or increased slightly over the last year as construction cannot keep up with demand," she added.

The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Bishkek (208), and Skopje (206). 
The survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city and all cities are compared against it and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The survey includes 209 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.