Mercer, a consulting firm, publishes an annual report that ranks cities of the world in terms of their cost of living. This report is used by various governmental bodies as well as multinational corporations, especially to determine employees’ compensations. This year’s report covers 214 cities spanning through 5 continents. The methodology that Mercer follows is that they have specified 200 items, including housing, clothing, food, transportation, and entertainment, that they compare the cost of from one city to the other.
The Top 10 most expensive cities in the world are:
- Luanda, Angola
- Tokyo, Japan
- N’Djamena, Chad
- Moscow, Russia
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Osaka, Japan
- Liberville, Gabon
- Zurich, Switzerland
Hong Kong - Copenhagen, Denmark
As for cities in the GCC, Abu Dhabi is the most expensive ranked 50, Dubai ranked at 55, Manama at 139, Riyadh at 144, Doha at 146, Kuwait at 152, Muscat at 176, and Jeddah at 181.
It is surprising to see that among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, 3 are African. Any thoughts on why?
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Tags: Kuwait, Luanda, Mercer, Most Expensive cities
Hyperinflation is probably behind it…
Thats the consequence of a country operating in a failing economic system
[Reply]
Naser Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
If thats the case then Zimbabwe would be the clear winner as their inflation rate is in the tens of thousands.
But the reoprt takes into account currency exchanger rates compared to the dollar which somewhat negates the inflationary effects.
[Reply]
very interesting indeed..
could it be that there is very limited place in the city as opposed to poorer rural areas, which inflates the real estate market, which then inflates all other cost of living factors
just a thought
[Reply]
Naser Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Yeah, limited real estate could be a factor. The report states that Luganda is expense for foreigners in particular, so the real estate factor might be part of the story.
[Reply]
one must not overlook that effect of currency movements here!! this isn’t about inflation
the measure is for an american expat living in those cities. the cities can be dirt cheap for the poor majority of natives. but freaky costly (western standard housing, western imported foods, high security (very important), costly air fare tickets, fuel etc.) add to that the generally weak dollar (except against the euro and the pound now)
and this is the result, I think !!
[Reply]
This list is FX adjusted. Its basically the list of most expensive real estate in the world. Higher the real estate costs higher will be the overall cost of living.
[Reply]
Naser Reply:
July 7th, 2010 at 8:56 am
If it was purely on real estate, then I’d bet that Kuwait would’ve ranked much higher, as real estate prices here are seriously high, compared to other cities.
[Reply]