Singapore Expats

Singapore Expats, Two Japanese cities and Hong Kong are in the  top 10 list of the most expensive cities for expatriates.? According to  Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2010, released yesterday,  Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong were ranked second, third and eighth,  respectively. Singapore fell by a notch, from 10th place last year to  11th.? Tokyo was ranked first and Osaka was second last year.? The most  expensive city is Luanda in Angola, three times as costly as Karachi in  Pakistan, which was ranked as the world’s least expensive city.?  Mercer’s senior researcher, Ms Nathalie Constantin-Metral, said the  stabilising economic environment and increased demand for good expat  housing saw residential property prices in many Asian countries rising  at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.? She noted the  weakening US dollar against other currencies, together with lowered cost  of rental accommodation, pulled US cities down the rankings. New York  fell from eight place last year to 27th.? The survey measures the  comparative cost of over 200 items, including housing, transport and  clothing, in 214 cities across five continents.? Singapore slips a notch  in expat living cost ranking In Asia-Pac, it’s now fourth, after Tokyo,  Osaka, HK: survey Felda Chay Business Times 30 Jun 10;? SINGAPORE is  the 11th most expensive city in the world for expatriates, one place  lower than its 10th position last year, says HR consultancy firm  Mercer.? But the city moved up a notch to fourth place among cities in  Asia-Pacific – which for the first time has three cities in the top 10  list of the dearest places for expats.? Tokyo remains the most expensive  city in Asia-Pacific, with sister city Osaka second, and Hong Kong  third. Singapore and Seoul round out the top five.? Cathy Loose,  Asia-Pacific global mobility leader at Mercer’s information product  solutions business, said: ‘Cities in Asia, such as Tokyo and Osaka,  continue to be the most expensive cities given the relatively strong yen  against other major currencies such as the US dollar.? ‘Other  high-ranking cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing remain  relatively the same in terms of overall cost-of-living ranking.’? Part  of the reason Asian cities feature more prominently in the worldwide top  10 list is the rise in residential property prices in the region, said  Mercer senior researcher Nathalie Constantin-Metral.? ‘At the end of  2009 and the beginning of 2010, residential property prices in many  Asian countries rose as the economic environment began to stabilise and  demand for good expat housing increased,’ said Ms Constantin-Metral.?  Among the 214 cities surveyed by Mercer, Tokyo was ranked second  worldwide, giving up its place as the world’s most costly city for  expats to Angola’s capital Luanda.? Ndjamena, in the central African  nation of Chad, was placed third, followed by Moscow, then Geneva.?  Mercer said the high living costs in some African cities reflects the  continent’s increasing economic importance across all business sectors.?  ‘We’ve seen an increase in demand for information on African cities  from across the business spectrum – mining, financial services,  airlines, manufacturing, utilities and energy companies,’ said Ms  Constantin-Metral. ‘Many people assume that cities in the developing  world are cheap, but this isn’t necessarily true for expatriates working  there.’? In particular, the cost of good, secure accommodation can be  ‘extraordinarily high’, she said.? Mercer’s Cost of Living survey covers  214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of  more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport,  food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.? New York is used as  the base city for the index, and all cities are compared against the Big  Apple. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar.? The cost  of housing – often the biggest expense for expats – plays an important  part in determining where cities are ranked.

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