Jakarta, Buenos Aires are the most affordable cities for expats

Dubai: Dubai is cheaper to live in than the likes of Geneva and Brussels, but expats may want to move to Jakarta or Buenos Aires if they need a less expensive domicile, according to a recent UBS study.

Ranked third on a list of cities for expats in terms of expenses, the emirate is 39 per cent cheaper compared to Geneva, Switzerland, on a monthly basis when it comes to basic expenses such as food, household goods and clothing.

Geneva, the costliest city, had average monthly basic expenses of $2,099 (Dh7,708), compared to Dubai’s $1,311.

However, Dubai was costlier, at $4,546 per month, when it came to the extra expenses that an expat incurs, in this case a two-bedroom furnished apartment and tuition at an international school for children.

The study found that an expat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, would pay 50 per cent of the basic expenses of what an expat in Geneva would pay.

Cities like Jakarta and Mumbai were listed as some of the cheaper places to live for an expat, with average monthly basic expenses of $1,098, nearly half of Geneva’s tally, and extra expenses of $1,240 per month, 70 per cent cheaper than the costliest city.

“In the first quarter of 2018, we noticed an increase in clients voicing concerns over the rising costs of their outgoings. This is particularly troubling for expatriates who have come to the UAE to take advantage of higher wages and save long-term,” Gemma Frankland, head of Global Partners at Guardian Wealth Management, said in May.

As far as savings are concerned, a recent survey by National Bonds found that more people plan to increase their savings compared to what they put away in 2017.

About 57 per cent plan to increase their savings in 2018, with about 40 per cent harbouring plans to start saving from this year.

Asked why they felt it was a good time to save, close to 43 per cent of UAE residents cited the existence of better investment opportunities, while 85 per cent said they believed they were not putting away enough for their future compared to 89 per cent in 2016.

Elsewhere in the Gulf region, 42 per cent of respondents in Saudi Arabia were very positive about the present environment for savings, compared to 30 per cent in the UAE and 30 per cent in other GCC countries.

The 2017 Index surveyed a total of 1,320 participants across the GCC, in countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.