Tokyo ranks second in terms of priceyness, followed by Ndjamena in Chad, Moscow and Geneva.
The survey covers 214 cities across five continents, and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. Mercer, a New York-based human resources and financial services consultancy, says its survey is used by multinational companies and governments to determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
Falling rents make UAE more competitive
In the Middle East, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been helped by falling house prices and rents, though Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, which was less affected by the recent global downturn, remains among the cheapest places for expatriates to live. Tel Aviv, in 19th place, was the most expensive Middle Eastern city.
Dubai came in at 55th most expensive city, tied with Los Angeles, while Jeddah was down in 181st place. Abu Dhabi tied with Frankfurt for 50th most expensive.
One of the survey’s biggest surprises was the rise in the cost of living in Africa’s cities. It was the first time since Mercer began its surveys that three African metropolitan areas made it into the top ten. In addition to Luanda and Ndjamena, Gabon’s capital city Libreville came in at No. 7.
Nathalie Constantin-Metral, a senior researcher at Mercer who is responsible for compiling the ranking, said this could reflect the fact that Mercer was considering such cities in a way it had not previously.
“Our cities are selected based on requests from our multi-national clients,” she said. “Notably African cities now figure prominently, reflecting the growing economic importance of the region to global companies across all business sectors.”
More about the Mercer survey is available on its website, www.mercer.com.
| Mercer’s 10 most expensive cities | country |
| 1. Luanda | Angola |
| 2. Tokyo | Japan |
| 3. Ndjamena | Chad |
| 4. Moscow | Russia |
| 5. Geneva | Switzerland |
| 6. Osaka | Japan |
| 7. Libreville | Gabon |
| 8. Zurich = | Switzerland |
| 8. Hong Kong = | Hong Kong / SAR China |
| 10. Copenhagen | Denmark |
