Hong Kong has topped the list of the most expensive cities to live and work in overseas, according to Mercer’s 2020 Cost of Living Survey. This is the third consecutive year that the Asian city was first in the list.
Interestingly, Ashgabat in Turkmenistan jumped up five spots from last year to be listed on the second place. Tokyo in Japan was on the third place, rounding up the top three places.
Zurich in Switzerland and Singapore were fourth and fifth on the list respectively. On last year’s list, Singapore was on the third place.
Three European cities were listed in the top 10: Zurich was the most expensive European city at the fourth position. It was followed by Bern and Geneva in Switzerland on eighth and ninth position respectively.
New York was the only city from the United States to feature on the list while six of the most expensive cities for expatriates were from the Asian-Pacific region. Hong Kong was on the first position followed by Ashgabat (2) Tokyo (3) Singapore (5) Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10).
The data was collected by Mercer in March, hence, the price variations due to the coronavirus pandemic were not considerable. This year’s survey included 209 cities from across five continents in the world. Factors such as housing, transportation, entertainment, food, clothing, and household goods across the cities were measured and compared to get to the final listing.
2020 Mercer’s Cost of Living City Ranking
1. Hong Kong (China)
2. Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)
3. Tokyo (Japan)
4. Zurich (Switzerland)
5. Singapore
6. New York City (USA)
7. Shanghai (China)
8. Bern (Switzerland)
9. Geneva (Switzerland)
10. Beijing (China)
