Hong Kong has been named the world’s most expensive city for international workers, according to the latest Mercer Cost of Living Survey. The annual study measures living expenses across global cities to help governments and multinational companies determine appropriate compensation packages for expatriate staff.
This year Hong Kong climbed to the top spot, overtaking last year’s most expensive city, Luanda, Angola. Zurich and Singapore retained third and fourth places, respectively, while Tokyo rose significantly to secure fifth place. Kinshasa moved up to sixth, followed by Shanghai, Geneva, N’Djamena and Beijing in the rankings.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the most affordable cities for international workers include Windhoek, Cape Town and Bishkek.
Mercer bases its cost-of-living comparisons on New York City, using it as the benchmark to evaluate the price of about 200 items across major cities worldwide. The survey examines typical expatriate expenses such as housing (for example, two-bedroom apartments or three-bedroom houses), groceries and household goods, transportation, dining out (including imported beer and a cup of coffee) and entertainment like movie tickets.
In addition to the cost of living index, Mercer also publishes an annual Quality of Living ranking. Earlier this year that survey highlighted cities with the highest quality of life, naming Vienna, Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Vancouver as the top five.
