Mercer Releases 2011 Cost of Living Survey

- Luanda in Angola is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates
- Karachi is the cheapest city in the world
- The top 10 ranked cities dominated by Africa, Asia and Europe - - 9 of the top 10
- London drops one place to rank 18
- Singapore and São Paolo join the top 10 list
- New York drops five places to rank 32
- Los Angeles drops 22 places to rank 77
- Tokyo remains in 2nd place
- Moscow is in 4th place
- Osaka comes in at 6th
- Hong Kong drops to 9th

Karachi (214) is ranked as the world’s least expensive city, and the survey found that Luanda, in the top place, is more than three times as costly as Karachi. Recent world events, including natural disasters and political upheavals, have impacted the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices.

The most expensive city in Asia is Tokyo (2), followed by Osaka (6). Singapore (8) has joined the list of the world’s top 10 most expensive cities and is followed by Hong Kong (9). Nagoya (11) in Japan is up eight places whereas Seoul (19) is down five. Other highly ranked Asian cities are Beijing (20), Shanghai (21), Guangzhou (38), Shenzhen (43) and Taipei (52).

“Most Asian cities have moved up in the ranking as availability for expatriate accommodation prices is limited and demand is high."

Currency fluctuations, inflation, political instability and natural disasters are all factors that influence the cost of living for expatriates. It is essential that employers understand their impact, for cost-containment purposes, but also to ensure they retain talented employees by offering competitive compensation packages." To view Mercer's Cost comparison between 21 major cities worldwide please click here, and for a comparison between 21 U.S. cities please click here. Further information can be found here;

I think it is very obvious that deflationary Japan is high on the rankings due the the very strong yen to the dollar, pound and euro, and not due to the demand for accommodation.......

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