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backGLOBALtalk December, 2011

Sao Paulo joins top 10 priciest cities for expats

Mercer survey shows Luanda, Tokyo holding on to top two spots.

Brazil’s Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro leapfrogged their way up a list of the most expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s annual cost-of-living survey, released Tuesday.

Sao Paulo ranked 10th in the employment-benefits consultancy’s list of 214 cities, rising 11 notches from last year’s survey. Rio de Janeiro grabbed the No. 12 spot, rising from 29th place.

Angola’s capital, Luanda, retained the top position on the list, while Tokyo held on to its No. 2 position. Singapore, which was No. 11 last year, moved up to No. 8. Slide show: The world’s most expensive cities.

Chad’s N’Djamena took third, and Moscow followed in fourth, while Geneva and Osaka were fifth and sixth.

Zurich moved up one place to seventh, while Hong Kong dropped to ninth.

“Overall, the cost of living in cities across Europe has remained relatively stable, while in Africa the picture is patchy, with limited availability of accommodation leading to increased living costs in some key cities,” said Phil Stanley, a principal at Mercer responsible for the Asia-Pacific mobility practice, in statement.

London ranked 18th, while Paris dropped 10 places to No. 27 from 17th last year. Tel Aviv fell five notches to 24th. New York was the priciest U.S. city, with a rank of 32, falling from 27 last year.

Mercer surveyed 214 cities across five continents, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

New York is used as the base city for the index, and all cities are compared against this location. Currency movements are measured against the U.S. dollar.

The cost of housing — often the biggest expense for expats — figures prominently in determining where cities are ranked, Mercer said.

Karachi, Pakistan, retained its place as the world’s least expensive city.

The Mercer survey found that it was more than three times as costly for an expatriate to live in Luanda as in Karachi.

Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief.

Source: MarketWatch - GAI

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