Tokyo tops list for expensive living

1.646941-1981858540 — While Tokyo tops the charts as the world's most expensive city for expatriate executives, other Japanese cities such as Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe also figure prominently on the list. Image Credit: Bloomberg News

Dubai: Tokyo has regained its place as most expensive city for expatriate executives to live in, a new survey by London-based ECA International shows. The consulting firm has issued a ranking of living costs for expats, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News.

The survey determines the living expenses for executives by comparing the costs of a basket of goods including food, groceries, clothing, electronics, services and entertainment. The comparison does not include rent, utilities or school fees — which in many cases are part of the executive salary package — because it only wants to show the private costs that incur for expatriates to maintain their individual living standard.

"Three years ago Tokyo fell out of the top ten because of its weakening currency — this year it has regained the first position," says Mira Pathak, Business development manager at ECA International.

"This is a sign how important currency rates are for expatriates and their salary calculations."

Currency

Behind Tokyo, the Norwegian capital Oslo follows as second most expensive place for expats to shop and chill-out.

The reason is that the Norwegian crown (the oil-rich country is not a member of the euro zone) lately strengthened against the euro and the dollar due to rising oil prices and fiscal stability.

Oslo is the most expensive town in Europe, not only for expats, but for every visitor with average costs of, for example, an ordinary lunch meal of $43 (Dh157.9), the survey says.

Surprisingly, the third most expensive place for expats is Angola's capital Luanda.

"This might sound peculiar, but the reason is that goods and services, which are commonly consumed by expatriates, are difficult to get due to poor infrastructure and therefore the pricing is inflated," says Pathak.

Next on the list are more cities in Japan, namely Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe, followed by Norway's oil metropolis Stavanger, Denmark's capital Copenhagen and the Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel.

Other European hotspots such as Moscow, Paris, Vienna, Helsinki, Stockholm, Brussels and Berlin remain pricey as well, unlike London, which slumped to rank 78 due to the weak pound.

"Companies sending their staff abroad are usually granting allowances to enable their executives to maintain a certain standard of living," says Pathak.

"Therefore, it is important to monitor the fluctuations in currencies and prices, because only then it is possible to adapt the salary packages accordingly." Expats can be prepared to shell out significantly more money for their shopping or lunches in Libreville, Gabon's capital and a busy oil and mining spot, than in New York City, the most expensive city in the US. In Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast and a busy hub for commodity trading, a trip to the grocery store or a night out in town comes at a higher price than in Sydney or Rio de Janeiro, Latin America's most expensive city.

The same applies to Abuja, Nigeria's capital, mostly due to its remote location which has inflated prices there generally, as well as to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the central African country's centre of its mining and refinery industry.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are not listed in ECA's top 30 list, which indicates that consumer goods in comparison are still reasonably priced — making the tax-free UAE a favourable place for expats to live.

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