Most expensive cities for international employees revealed

There are some surprising entries in the 2021 Cost of Living City Ranking from Mercer, which multinationals might be interested in when it comes to expat employees, or as it is known now, “international mobility planning”. Who would have guessed that Ashgabat in Turkmenistan was the most expensive city for international employees in the world? Or that Beirut was the third most expensive city? And that N’Djamena in Chad and Libreville in Gabon would be in the top 20? Mercer’s ranking found Ashgabat to be the most expensive city for international employees, pushing Hong Kong into second place, with Beirut ranked third. According to Mercer, Beirut climbed 42 positions up the ranking as a result of a severe and extensive economic depression due to the escalation of several crises — the country’s largest financial crisis, Covid-19 and the Port of Beirut explosion in 2020. Tokyo and Zurich each dropped one spot from third and fourth respectively to fourth and fifth positions, and Shanghai ranked sixth, up one place from last year, while Singapore moved from fifth place to seventh. Other cities appearing in the top ten of Mercer’s most costly cities for international employees are Geneva (eighth), Beijing (ninth), and Bern (ten). The world’s least expensive cities for international employees, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tbilisi (207th), Lusaka (208th), and Bishkek, which ranked as the least costly city at 209th. “Cost of living has always been a factor for international mobility planning, but the pandemic has added a whole new layer of complexity, as well as long-term implications related to health and safety of employees, remote working and flexibility policies, among other considerations,” commented Ilya Bonic, career president and head of Mercer strategy. “As organisations rethink their talent and mobility strategies, accurate and transparent data is essential to compensate employees fairly for all types of assignments.” Mercer explained that mobility is evolving from traditional long-term assignments – i.e., relocating an employee for a few years then repatriating them to their home location – to other kinds of mobility moves such as short-term assignees, international foreign hires, permanent transferees, commuters, international remote workers and international freelancers. Cities in the US have dropped in this year’s ranking, mostly due to currency fluctuations between March 2020 and March 2021, despite the rising inflation of goods and services in the country. New York (14th) ranked as the most expensive city in the US, though it dropped eight positions since last year, followed by Los Angeles (20th), San Francisco (25th), Honolulu (43rd) and Chicago (45th). Three European cities are among the top ten list of most expensive locations. Number five in the global ranking, Zurich remains the most costly European city, followed by Geneva (eighth) and Bern (tenth). Mercer said the strengthening of local currency resulted in several European cities climbing the ranking, with Paris climbing to 33rd. Local currency in the UK remains strong, with London (18th) and Birmingham (121st). In South America, Port of Spain (91st) in Trinidad & Tobago ranked as the most expensive city, followed by Port-au-Prince (92nd) in Haiti, and Pointe-à-Pitre (107th) in Guadaloupe. Brasilia (205th) is the least expensive city in South America. More than half of the top ten most expensive cities are located in Asia. Ashgabat climbed one position in this year’s ranking, making it the costliest city for international employees, both in Asia and globally. Hong Kong (second), Tokyo (fourth), Shanghai (sixth), Singapore (seventh) and Beijing (ninth) followed suit. Mumbai (78th) is India’s most expensive city but dropped 18 places in this year’s ranking, due to a relatively weak Indian rupee in comparison with other cities in the ranking. Australian cities have climbed in this year’s ranking, as the local currency significantly gained value against the US dollar. Sydney (31st), Australia’s most expensive ranked city for international employees, experienced a climb of 35 places, followed by Melbourne (59th) with a climb of 40 places. Beirut is the costliest city in the Middle East for international employees, jumping 42 positions to third in the global ranking, with Dubai (42nd) and Abu Dhabi (56th). N’Djamena (13th), Lagos (19th) and Libreville (20th) are the first, second and third costliest cities in Africa for international employees.

Most expensive cities for international employees revealed

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