Hong Kong retains crown as world’s most expensive city for expats, while Singapore jumps to second place: survey
- Cost of living survey by Mercer puts city at top of global rankings, just ahead of Singapore, which climbed rankings by six places from last year
- Mainland Chinese and Japanese cities drop in rankings, with both Beijing and Tokyo exiting the top 10
Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, while Singapore comes in second place, a survey by a global consulting firm has found.
Mercer released the results of its cost of living survey on Tuesday, which found Hong Kong had topped the list for a second year in a row, while Singapore climbed six places. Swiss cities Zurich, Geneva and Basel came third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tracey Ma, the firm’s regional mobility leader for Asia-Pacific, attributed Singapore’s rise mainly to its strong currency position, as well as high inflation caused by supply chain disruptions and rising fuel costs.
“Across the region, we have experienced high inflation in a majority of the key markets,” Ma said.
Housing costs were a major factor in ECA’s rankings, with the report attributing New York’s skyrocketing rent to people returning after the pandemic, while Singapore’s accommodation supply was unable to keep up with demand. According to ECA, housing prices in Hong Kong dropped, which experts have blamed on a slowing population and rising interest rates for mortgages.
But Mercer said mainland Chinese and Japanese cities bucked the trends of its survey. Most notably, Beijing and Tokyo dropped out of the top 10 to come in at 13th and 19th, respectively.
