The decision to relocate abroad is never simple, and along with the constant adjustment to a new environment and culture, living in a new country, away from one’s homeland, often involves increased living costs. Therefore ECA International publishes an annual list of the most expensive 207 cities in 120 countries for expatriates, encompassing in its research the costs of goods and services as well as residential rental prices in areas of cities typically inhabited by expatriates.
This year, New York has, due to inflation and rising accommodation costs, surpassed Hong Kong to take the top spot as the most expensive city in the world for expatriates, while Singapore has jumped from last year’s 13th place to fifth place due to a massive increase in rental costs, although other Asian cities have fallen to lower positions this year due to lower inflation, Bloomberg reports.
Geneva and London, for example, remain in third and fourth place, as does Copenhagen in 18th.
Here is the list of the 20 most expensive cities in the world for expatriates, with their positions on the same list in 2022 in parentheses:
- New York, USA (2)
- Hong Kong, China (1)
- Geneva, Switzerland (3)
- London, United Kingdom (4)
- Singapore (13)
- Zurich, Switzerland (7)
- San Francisco, USA (11)
- Tel Aviv, Israel (6)
- Seoul, South Korea (10)
- Tokyo, Japan (5)
- Bern, Switzerland (16)
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates (23)
- Shanghai, China (8)
- Guangzhou, China (9)
- Los Angeles, USA (21)
- Shenzhen, China (12)
- Beijing, China (14)
- Copenhagen, Denmark (18)
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (22)
- Chicago, USA (25)
ECA International also publishes an annual list of the 20 most expensive cities in Europe, and this year the following cities made the list (compared to 2022):
