The most expensive cities in the world to live in
Mercer has published a rating that takes account of the costs of 200 different goods and services for nearly 500 global assignment destinations for expatriate workers.
Cities in Asia take eight of the top ten spots in Mercer’s annual ranking. At the other end of the spectrum are cities in developing or politically unstable countries.
The top 10 most expensive cities:
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo (Japan)
- Singapore (Singapore)
- Seoul (South Korea)
- Zürich (Switzerland)
- Shanghai (China)
- Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)
- Beijing (China)
- New York City (United States)
- Shenzhen (China)
The top 10 least expensive cities:
- Tunis (Tunisia)
- Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
- Karachi (Pakistan)
- Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
- Banjul (Gambia)
- Windhoek (Namibia)
- Islamabad (Pakistan)
- Tbilisi (Georgia)
- Skopje (Macedonia)
- Managua (Nicaragua)
Top 5 most expensive cities for international employees in different continents
Cost of living city ranking
| City | Country | Rank, 2019 | Rank, 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hong kong | Hong Kong (SAR) | 1 | 1 |
| Tokyo | Japan | 2 | 2 |
| Singapore | Singapore | 3 | 4 |
| Seoul | South Korea | 4 | 5 |
| Zurich | Switzerland | 5 | 3 |
| Shanghai | China | 6 | 7 |
| Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 7 | 43 |
| Beijing | China | 8 | 9 |
| New york city | United States | 9 | 13 |
| Shenzhen | China | 10 | 12 |
| Ndjamena | Chad | 11 | 8 |
| Bern | Switzerland | 12 | 10 |
| Geneva | Switzerland | 13 | 11 |
| Victoria | Seychelles | 14 | 21 |
| Tel aviv | Israel | 15 | 16 |
| San francisco | United States | 16 | 28 |
| Guangzhou | China | 17 | 15 |
| Los angeles | United States | 18 | 35 |
| Osaka | Japan | 19 | 23 |
| Copenhagen | Denmark | 20 | 14 |
| Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 21 | 26 |
| Kinshasa | Dem. Rep. of the Congo | 22 | 37 |
| London | United Kingdom | 23 | 19 |
| Libreville | Gabon | 24 | 18 |
| Lagos | Nigeria | 25 | 42 |
| Luanda | Angola | 26 | 6 |
| Moscow | Russia | 27 | 17 |
| Nanjing | China | 27 | 25 |
| Noumea | New Caledonia | 29 | 22 |
| Abidjan | Côte d'Ivoire | 30 | 24 |
| Chengdu | China | 30 | 31 |
| Tianjin | China | 32 | 29 |
| Abu dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 33 | 40 |
| Nagoya | Japan | 33 | 41 |
| Taipei | Taiwan | 35 | 27 |
| Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 35 | 45 |
| Chicago | United States | 37 | 51 |
| Honolulu | United States | 38 | 54 |
| Brazzaville | Congo | 39 | 19 |
| Bangkok | Thailand | 40 | 52 |
| Qingdao | China | 41 | 36 |
| Washington | United States | 42 | 56 |
| Dublin | Ireland | 43 | 32 |
| Miami | United States | 44 | 60 |
| Milan | Italy | 45 | 33 |
| Shenyang | China | 45 | 38 |
| Paris | France | 47 | 34 |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | 47 | 66 |
| Boston | United States | 49 | 70 |
| Sydney | Australia | 50 | 29 |
| Vienna | Austria | 51 | 39 |
| Yaounde | Cameroon | 52 | 43 |
| Beirut | Lebanon | 53 | 65 |
| Bangui | Central African Republic | 54 | 48 |
| Rome | Italy | 55 | 46 |
| White plains | United States | 56 | 79 |
| Manama | Bahrain | 57 | 77 |
| Amsterdam | Netherlands | 58 | 50 |
| Djibouti | Djibouti | 59 | 73 |
| Houston | United States | 59 | 86 |
| Oslo | Norway | 61 | 47 |
| Dallas | United States | 62 | 85 |
| Accra | Ghana | 63 | 63 |
| Seattle | United States | 64 | 90 |
| Helsinki | Finland | 65 | 53 |
| Douala | Cameroon | 66 | 73 |
| Mumbai | India | 67 | 55 |
| Munich | Germany | 67 | 57 |
| Atlanta | United States | 69 | 95 |
| Montevideo | Uruguay | 70 | 75 |
| Morristown | United States | 70 | 97 |
| Dakar | Senegal | 72 | 62 |
| San juan | Puerto Rico | 72 | 95 |
| Frankfurt | Germany | 74 | 68 |
| St. Petersburg | Russia | 75 | 49 |
| Amman | Jordan | 75 | 94 |
| Brussels | Belgium | 77 | 67 |
| Minneapolis | United States | 78 | 102 |
| Melbourne | Australia | 79 | 58 |
| Santiago | Chile | 79 | 69 |
| Berlin | Germany | 81 | 71 |
| Madrid | Spain | 82 | 64 |
| Port of spain | Trinidad & Tobago | 83 | 97 |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 84 | 71 |
| Abuja | Nigeria | 85 | 99 |
| Sao paulo | Brazil | 86 | 58 |
| Perth | Australia | 87 | 61 |
| Conakry | Guinea | 88 | 106 |
| Auckland | New Zealand | 89 | 81 |
| Detroit | United States | 90 | 116 |
| Barcelona | Spain | 91 | 79 |
| Dusseldorf | Germany | 92 | 82 |
| Panama city | Panama | 93 | 114 |
| St. Louis | United States | 94 | 122 |
| Lisbon | Portugal | 95 | 93 |
| Canberra | Australia | 96 | 77 |
| Prague | Czech Republic | 97 | 83 |
| Nairobi | Kenya | 97 | 123 |
| Pittsburgh | United States | 97 | 125 |
| Hamburg | Germany | 100 | 88 |
| Jeddah | Saudi Arabia | 100 | 117 |
| Bandar seri begawan | Brunei | 102 | 106 |
| Brisbane | Australia | 103 | 84 |
| Muscat | Oman | 103 | 117 |
| Jakarta | Indonesia | 105 | 117 |
| Cleveland | United States | 106 | 125 |
| Portland | United States | 107 | 130 |
| Phnom penh | Cambodia | 108 | 142 |
| Adelaide | Australia | 109 | 87 |
| Manila | Philippines | 109 | 138 |
| Riga | Latvia | 111 | 92 |
| Vancouver | Canada | 112 | 109 |
| Hanoi | Vietnam | 112 | 137 |
| Wellington | New Zealand | 114 | 101 |
| Toronto | Canada | 115 | 109 |
| Doha | Qatar | 115 | 115 |
| Yangon | Myanmar | 117 | 91 |
| New delhi | India | 118 | 103 |
| Kuwait city | Kuwait | 119 | 121 |
| Ho chi minh city | Vietnam | 120 | 124 |
| Rio de janeiro | Brazil | 121 | 99 |
| Lima | Peru | 121 | 132 |
| Lyon | France | 123 | 105 |
| Bamako | Mali | 124 | 120 |
| Pointe a pitre | Guadeloupe | 125 | 104 |
| Stuttgart | Germany | 126 | 108 |
| Stockholm | Sweden | 127 | 89 |
| Cotonou | Benin | 128 | 111 |
| Athens | Greece | 128 | 112 |
| Casablanca | Morocco | 128 | 128 |
| Bratislava | Slovakia | 131 | 113 |
| San jose | Costa Rica | 131 | 141 |
| Buenos aires | Argentina | 133 | 76 |
| Havana | Cuba | 133 | 165 |
| Birmingham | United Kingdom | 135 | 128 |
| Guatemala city | Guatemala | 136 | 130 |
| Aberdeen | United Kingdom | 137 | 134 |
| Winston salem | United States | 138 | 161 |
| Montreal | Canada | 139 | 147 |
| Tallinn | Estonia | 140 | 140 |
| Kuala lumpur | Malaysia | 141 | 145 |
| Ljubljana | Slovenia | 142 | 132 |
| Zagreb | Croatia | 143 | 138 |
| Mexico city | Mexico | 144 | 157 |
| Lome | Togo | 145 | 134 |
| Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso | 145 | 134 |
| Glasgow | United Kingdom | 145 | 148 |
| Quito | Ecuador | 148 | 156 |
| Niamey | Niger | 149 | 143 |
| Kiev | Ukraine | 150 | 173 |
| Nuremberg | Germany | 151 | 145 |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | 152 | 148 |
| Calgary | Canada | 153 | 154 |
| Chennai | India | 154 | 144 |
| Istanbul | Turkey | 154 | 163 |
| Leipzig | Germany | 156 | 150 |
| Kingston | Jamaica | 157 | 164 |
| Belfast | United Kingdom | 158 | 152 |
| Maputo | Mozambique | 159 | 179 |
| Rabat | Morocco | 160 | 165 |
| Limassol | Cyprus | 161 | 153 |
| Ottawa | Canada | 161 | 160 |
| Port louis | Mauritius | 161 | 161 |
| Budapest | Hungary | 164 | 151 |
| Port au prince | Haiti | 165 | 125 |
| Tirana | Albania | 166 | 172 |
| San salvador | El Salvador | 166 | 174 |
| Cairo | Egypt | 166 | 188 |
| Santo domingo | Dominican Republic | 169 | 178 |
| Bogota | Colombia | 170 | 168 |
| Dar es salaam | Tanzania | 171 | 180 |
| Addis ababa | Ethiopia | 171 | 183 |
| Warsaw | Poland | 173 | 154 |
| Brasilia | Brazil | 174 | 158 |
| Kigali | Rwanda | 175 | 169 |
| Bucharest | Romania | 176 | 176 |
| Sofia | Bulgaria | 177 | 175 |
| Baku | Azerbaijan | 178 | 186 |
| Bengaluru | India | 179 | 170 |
| Cape town | South Africa | 180 | 170 |
| Belgrade | Serbia | 181 | 181 |
| Colombo | Sri Lanka | 182 | 158 |
| Kampala | Uganda | 183 | 192 |
| Algiers | Algeria | 184 | 195 |
| Johannesburg | South Africa | 185 | 177 |
| Asuncion | Paraguay | 186 | 183 |
| Monterrey | Mexico | 187 | 193 |
| Harare | Zimbabwe | 188 | 165 |
| Kolkata | India | 189 | 182 |
| Gaborone | Botswana | 189 | 189 |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | 191 | 187 |
| Nouakchott | Mauritania | 192 | 194 |
| Blantyre | Malawi | 193 | 204 |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 194 | 191 |
| La paz | Bolivia | 195 | 199 |
| Lusaka | Zambia | 196 | 185 |
| Yerevan | Armenia | 197 | 198 |
| Minsk | Belarus | 198 | 202 |
| Tegucigalpa | Honduras | 199 | 201 |
| Managua | Nicaragua | 200 | 200 |
| Skopje | Macedonia | 201 | 197 |
| Tbilisi | Georgia | 202 | 203 |
| Islamabad | Pakistan | 203 | 190 |
| Windhoek | Namibia | 204 | 196 |
| Banjul | Gambia | 204 | 206 |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 206 | 207 |
| Karachi | Pakistan | 207 | 205 |
| Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 208 | 209 |
| Tunis | Tunisia | 209 | 208 |
Data: Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey
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