Mercer’s annual survey takes into account a huge range of factors in determining where the most expensive city in the world is for expatriates to live. These factors include the obvious and highest expenses such as rent, transportation, food and clothing, but also includes things like cinema tickets and the cost of coffee.
As mentioned, Angola’s capital Luanda is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates — this is because of high rental costs and because of the high costs of imported goods and services commonly purchased by expatriates commanding a premium.
Moscow ranks as the world’s second most expensive city for expatriates, with Mercer pointing out that a luxury unfurnished apartment rental in Moscow costs £2963 per month – or 14 times as much as Karachi.
Rounding out the top five most expensive cities for expatriate living, which also have pricey rental accommodations, are Tokyo, the Chad city Ndjamena, and Singapore.
“Recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, which resulted in currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and volatility in accommodation prices have impacted these cities making them expensive,” said Ellyn Karetnick, Mercer’s international mobility leader.
“Despite being one of Africa’s major oil producers, Angola is a relatively poor country yet expensive for expatriates since imported goods can be costly. In addition, finding secure living accommodation that meets the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly.”
The other cities appearing in Mercer’s list of top 10 costliest cities for expatriates are Hong Kong, Geneva, Bern and Zurich.
