Top & Bottom Ranked Cities for Cost of Living 2015
As an interested in World traveling and living abroad, I always wander which cities are the most expensive to be in as a foreigner. I came with this 2015 ranking of the most expensive cities to live in as a foreigner. For all my friends that do exchanges through AIESEC, or that lead the frontlines of Globalization working abroad for their global companies, this might be really helpful for you.
Top 10 most expensive cities in the world.
- Luanda, Angola
- Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Singapore, Singapore
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Shanghai, China
- Beijing, China
- Seoul, South Korea
- Bern, Switzerland
- N’Djamena, Chad
The first surprising thing I noticed is that one city in Angola, Africa with very inexpensive prices has been leading the chart of the most expensive place to live. The cost of imported goods and safe living conditions that are a must for international workers and travellers made this city to the top of the list.
Following Angola, I am not really surprised to see cities from Switzerland at the top of the list. Touristing there is quite expensive. However, European cities have lost their places. London, one of the most costliest cities one decade ago, is now steadily on place 12th. Now the new boom is coming from the Asian-Pacific titans as China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. Mumbai climbed now to place 74th thanks to the great growth of Indian Economy.
In North America, USA is having New York in the 16th place. Canada is far behind having Vancouver (119th) and Toronto (126th) as its most expensive cities.
In Latin America, Buenos Aires (ranked 19th) climbed like 60 places to became the costliest city in L.A. due to the strong increase of price in all goods and services.
Here there are the regional rankings
Top 5 Most expensive cities in Middle East and Africa
1. Luanda, Angola
10. N’Djamena, Chad
13. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
17. Victoria, Seychelles
18. Tel Aviv, Israel
Top 5 Most expensive cities in Asia
2. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
4. Singapore, Singapore
6. Shanghai, China
7 Beijing, China
8 Seoul, South Korea
Top 5 Most expensive cities in Western Europe
3. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Bern, Switzerland
12. London, England
24. Copenhagen, Denmark
Top 5 Most expensive cities in North America
16. New York, USA
36. Los Angeles, USA
37. San Francisco, USA
42. Chicago, USA
50 Washington DC, USA
Top 5 Most expensive cities in South America
19. Buenos Aires, Argentina
40. Sao Paulo, Brazil
68. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
70. Santiago, Chile
76. Port of Spain, Trinidad y Tobago
Top 5 Most expensive cities in Oceania
31. Sydney, Australia
39. Noumea, New Caledonia
47. Melbourne, Australia
48. Perth, Australia
61. Auckland, New Zealand
Top 5 Most expensive cities in Eastern Europe
51. Moscow, Russia
99. Istanbul, Turkey
111 Riga, Latvia
137. Bratislava, Slovakia
143. Prague, Czech Republic
Source:
– Bonic, Ilya; “Big Data Traces Risk and Living Cost for Expatriate Workers“, Brink, July 8th, 2015. Consulted on July 26th 2015 at http://www.brinknews.com/big-data-traces-risk-and-living-cost-for-expatriate-workers/?/ob/americas
– “Mercer 2015 Cost of Living Rankings“, Mercer. Consulted on July 26th 2015 at https://www.imercer.com/content/2015-cost-of-living-infographic.aspx
Israel Andalón 
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