According to Mercer’s 2020 Cost of Living Survey, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, followed by Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in second position.

Tokyo and Zurich remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Singapore is in fifth, down two places from last year. New York City ranked sixth, moving up from ninth place.

Other cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Shanghai (7), Bern (8), Geneva (9), and Beijing (10).

The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Windhoek (208), Tashkent and Bishkek, which tied to rank 206.

“The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage,” said Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy. “Rather than bet on a dramatic resurgence of mobility, organizations should prepare for the redeployment of their mobile workforces, leading with empathy and understanding that not all expatriates will be ready or willing to go abroad.”

“Border closings, flight interruptions, mandatory confinements, and other short-term disruptions have affected not only the cost of goods and services but also the quality of living of assignees,” said Mr. Bonic.

Climate change, issues related to environmental footprint, and health system challenges have pushed multinationals to consider how a city’s efforts around sustainability can impact the living conditions for their expatriate workers. Cities with a strong sustainability focus can greatly improve living standards, which can in turn improve employee well-being and engagement.”
Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy.

Six of the top 10 cities in this year’s ranking are in Asia. Hong Kong (1) retained its spot as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally due to currency movements measured against the US dollar and driving up the cost of living locally. This global financial center is followed by Ashgabat (2) Tokyo (3) Singapore (5) Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10). Mumbai (60) is India’s most expensive city while Kolkata (185) is the least expensive Indian city ranked.

Australian cities have fallen in the ranking this year as the local currency has depreciated against the US dollar. Sydney (66), Australia’s most expensive ranked city for expatriates, experienced a drop of sixteen places. The least expensive city in the region, Adelaide fell seventeen places to rank 126.

Rank		City
2019	2020
1	1	HONG KONG	HONG KONG (SAR)
7	2	ASHGABAT	TURKMENISTAN
2	3	TOKYO	JAPAN
5	4	ZURICH	SWITZERLAND
3	5	SINGAPORE	SINGAPORE
9	6	NEW YORK CITY	UNITED STATES
6	7	SHANGHAI	CHINA
12	8	BERN	SWITZERLAND
13	9	GENEVA	SWITZERLAND
8	10	BEIJING	CHINA
4	11	SEOUL	SOUTH KOREA
15	12	TEL AVIV	ISRAEL
10	13	SHENZHEN	CHINA
14	14	VICTORIA	SEYCHELLES
11	15	NDJAMENA	CHAD
16	16	SAN FRANCISCO	UNITED STATES
18	17	LOS ANGELES	UNITED STATES
25	18	LAGOS	NIGERIA
23	19	LONDON	UNITED KINGDOM
17	20	GUANGZHOU	CHINA
27	21	MOSCOW	RUSSIA
19	22	OSAKA	JAPAN
21	23	DUBAI	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
22	24	KINSHASA	DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO
20	25	COPENHAGEN	DENMARK
33	26	NAGOYA	JAPAN
47	26	DHAKA	BANGLADESH
35	28	TAIPEI	TAIWAN
38	28	HONOLULU	UNITED STATES
37	30	CHICAGO	UNITED STATES
35	31	RIYADH	SAUDI ARABIA
42	32	WASHINGTON	UNITED STATES
24	33	LIBREVILLE	GABON
27	34	NANJING	CHINA
40	35	BANGKOK	THAILAND