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Most expensive cities for expats 2021: Budapest takes a great position!Most expensive cities for expats 2021: Budapest takes a great position!Most expensive cities for expats 2021: Budapest takes a great position!Most expensive cities for expats 2021: Budapest takes a great position!
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Alpár Kató Alpár Kató · 02/02/2021
· Society

Most expensive cities for expats 2021: Budapest takes a great position!

Budapest Expats in Hungary household Hungary survey
chain bridge budapest hungary buildings

Photo by Lucas Davies on Unsplash

Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm, has released its annual Cost of Living Survey, now in its 26th year.

With over 400 cities included, Mercer’s annual report is one of the most influential and comprehensive of its kind. The study helps multinational companies and governments design expatriate compensation packages for their employees and manage international assignment costs.

Yet again, Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive city for expats, followed by Ashgabat in second place, Tokyo in third and Zurich in fourth. Singapore ranks fifth, down two places from the previous year and New York moves up from ninth place to sixth.

hong-kong

“The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage. Rather than bet on a dramatic resurgence of mobility, organizations should prepare for the redeployment of their mobile workforces, leading with empathy and understanding that not all expatriates will be ready or willing to go abroad.”

Ilya Bonic, Career President & Head of Mercer Strategy
 
The latest analysis reveals that the global pandemic has widely affected consumer buying habits throughout the world’s expatriate communities. Particular commodities such as “comfort food,” cleaning supplies and home entertainment have seen an increase in demand.

COMPARING THE COST OF LIVING

According to Atlas & Boots, it is important to remember that the ranking is not designed for locals. It is designed for multinational companies looking to place expat employees and is used as a tool to calculate how much overseas workers should be paid.

It also provides an indication to potential expats looking to determine how expensive their new country could be to live in.

the least and most expensive cities for expats
MERCERThe most and least expensive cities for expats

Mercer uses New York as its base city and the US dollar as the base currency. The results differ from other surveys such as the Economist’s Worldwide Cost of Living as Mercer focuses specifically on products bought by expats.

If you’re a hiring manager looking to send an analyst to Kuala Lumpur, you need to know how much it costs to live there so you are compensating that worker fairly. It’s easier to consult a ready-made list than to do your own research on the ground. Most companies who use these lists are placing highly-skilled professionals or managers who are likely to earn more than the average local salary. 

Bryan Lufkin, BBC Capital
 
The survey analyses the price of over 200 goods and services in over 400 cities with substantial expat communities across the globe. The methodology assumes spending patterns among expats from different nationalities remain the same.

The weighting of goods and services are the same for all locations. The approach compares prices of comparable brands and retail outlets in both the home and host cities.

A drawback with this methodology is that certain factors can skew a city’s rating. For example, the high cost of car ownership and fuel in Singapore could propel it further up the rankings.

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REGION BY REGION

Six Asian cities, three European and one American city make up the 10 most expensive locations.

most expensive cities for expats in each region

WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES FOR EXPATS RANKING

Sort the table below by cost of living or country to view the world’s most expensive cities for expats.

Rank City Country/Region Rank 2019
1 Hong Kong Hong Kong (SAR) 1
2 Ashgabat Turkmenistan 7
3 Tokyo Japan 2
4 Zurich Switzerland 5
5 Singapore Singapore 3
6 New York City USA 9
7 Shanghai China 6
8 Bern Switzerland 12
9 Geneva Switzerland 13
10 Beijing China 8
19 London UK 23
21 Moscow Russia 27
50 Paris France 47
54 Vienna Austria 51
65 Rome Italy 55
72 Munich Germany 67
78 Brussels Belgium 77
82 Berlin Germany 81
87 Madrid Spain 82
97 Prague Czech Rep. 97
102 Barcelona Spain 91
106 Kiev Ukraine 150
139 Bratislava Slovakia 131
148 Ljubljana Slovenia 142
152 Zagreb Croatia 143
156 Istanbul Turkey 154
169 Warsaw Poland 173
170 Budapest Hungary 164
174 Bucharest Romania 176
180 Sofia Bulgaria 177
183 Belgrade Serbia 181
197 Sarajevo Bosnia & Herz. 194

Full list HERE.

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Budapest Expats in Hungary household Hungary survey
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Alpár Kató
Alpár Kató
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