Here are the Most Expensive Cities for Expats for 2020

Good news, we are not in the top 10

Here are the Most Expensive Cities for Expats for 2020

 

The list of most expensive cities in the world for expats is out now, and the good bit is that it does not include any Australian city in the top 3. No, not even Sydney, even though Sydney’s housing market is a sorry affair and even a coffee and smashed avocado on toast will cost you AUD 25 if you do not feel like making breakfast in the mornings.

 

The list of most expensive cities in the world for expats was released after an annual cost of the living survey was done by a research data firm called ECA International. It compared the data from September 2019 to September 2020. It highlighted that no Australian city made it to the top three most expensive cities. The top three are Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York. All these have housing costs even though there was a slide in prices this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as the political uncertainty.

The regional director of the firm for Asia said “Hong Kong is the most expensive place in the world for overseas workers to live, despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is despite seeing some property prices falling in the past year.”

 

Feeling good now? Don’t celebrate yet as the survey that revealed the most expensive cities for expats also highlighted that Australian cities have become more expensive in the last 12 months and every location in the country has moved up in the rankings and Sydney has entered the top 50 on the list.

The cities at the end of the table, i.e., the cheapest cities were Tunis at 209, Windhoek at 208 and Tashkent at 207. For those who are unaware of how the survey works, it compares several day-to-day consumer goods and services that are used by international assignees. For this survey, 480 places across the globe were compared. The list compared everything from household items to clothing, groceries to recreational goods and a lot more. Here’s a sample below with some countries being compared with Sydney:

Average Price for a Cup of Coffee
Hong Kong – $5.16 USD
New York – $4.90 USD
London – $3.85 USD
Sydney – $3.60 USD

Average Price for a Bar of Chocolate
Hong Kong – $3.45 USD
New York – $3.78 USD
London – $2.14 USD
Sydney – $2.71 USD

Yearly Gym Membership
Hong Kong – $1,395 USD
New York – $952 USD
London – $1,335 USD
Sydney – $1,034 USD

Gas (1L)
Hong Kong – $2.47 USD
New York – $0.90 USD
London – $1.76 USD
Sydney – $1.11 USD

Milk (1L)
Hong Kong – $4.33 USD
New York – $2.57 USD
London – $1.57 USD
Sydney – $1.55 USD

The core aim of the survey that listed the most expensive cities in the world is to help governments and multinational companies to set pay for employees who have to move overseas for work.

 

Here is the top 10 of most expensive cities for expats.

Location 2020 ranking 2019 ranking
Hong Kong 1 1
Tokyo, Japan 2 2
New York, USA 3 3
Geneva, Switzerland 4 4
Zurich, Switzerland 5 6
London, UK 6 10
Tel Aviv, Israel 7 5
Seoul, Korea Republic 8 7
San Francisco, USA 9 9
Yokohama, Japan 10 8

 

Share this on social media