The most expensive city for expats in the world

Uprooting your life and moving to a completely different city for work isn't always an easy decision.

There are many factors to consider, with cost undoubtedly high on the list.

But which international city is the most expensive in the world for expats to move to?

This year's Mercer Cost of Living Survey, released this week, has named the top 10.

Los Angeles came in tenth place this year.

The report examined 226 cities based on the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

The study also noted that the cost of living in the US was "a significant issue", with seven US cities appearing in the top 20.

"As US-based companies continue to source talent globally, inflationary pressures may give some inbound foreign nationals pause to accept a position in some of the high-cost cities and metro areas in the US," Vince Cordova, partner and mobility advisory leader at Mercer US, said.

The island capital of the Bahamas came in ninth place.

The price of a dozen large eggs, a litre of olive oil and an espresso coffee at a popular café were among the 200 products taken into consideration when determining the rankings for the cost of living in each of the cities.

The economic and cultural hub of the United Kingdom was the eighth-most expensive city for expats.

Meanwhile, the cities that ranked the lowest for living costs were Pakistan's Islamabad and Nigeria's Lagos and Abuja.

However, this was said to be partly driven by "currency depreciations".

New York was the most expensive US city, taking seventh place.

According to the report, expensive housing markets and increased costs for transportation, goods and services are among the reasons why the cost of living in the top ranking cities is particularly high.

Much of the rest of the top 10 was taken up by Swiss cities - with their infamously expensive cost-of-living.

Switzerland's capital Bern came in sixth place.

Meanwhile, the artistic city of Basel came in fifth place.



Geneva came in fourth place.

And the Swiss finance centre Zurich came in third place.

Switzerland has a strong currency, high wages, and political policies which combine to make it one of the most expensive European countries to live in.

Transport and finance hub Singapore, a popular destination with expats, came second on the list.

Hong Kong has once again taken the title of the most costly city for overseas workers in survey, which was released on Monday.

Hong Kong was also the most expensive city for international workers in 2022 and 2023.