INTERNATIONAL REWARD
Cost of living survey 2012 - Mercer
Tokyo is now the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, pushing Luanda in Angola down to second position. That’s what Mercer’s latest cost of living survey finds. Osaka comes in third position, a jump of three places from last year, whereas Moscow remains in fourth, with Geneva trailing in fifth spot.
Mercer says: “Recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, have affected the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, inflation, and volatility in accommodation prices.”
Meanwhile, in the UK, London - at 25th overall - is the most expensive city for expatriates - down seven places from last year.
%ADVERT%
To view the cost-of-living rankings for the top 50 cities go to: http://uk.mercer.com/press-releases/cost-of-living-rankings.
A final word
“Deploying expatriate employees is becoming an increasingly important aspect of multinational companies’ business strategy, including expansion. But with volatile markets and stunted economic growth in many parts of the world, a keen eye on cost efficiency is essential, including on expatriate remuneration packages. Making sure salaries adequately reflect the difference in cost of living to the employee’s home country is important in order to attract and retain the right talent where companies need them.
“When compared to New York, our benchmark city, most European cities have witnessed a decline in cost of living. Some exceptions exist where accommodation prices have increased or additional VAT taxes have pushed the cost of living up. In North America, most cities have gone up in the ranking, as the US dollar has strengthened against a large proportion of the world’s other currencies. In Asia, more than six in ten cities moved up in the rankings, including all surveyed cities in Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand. Cities in Australia and New Zealand witnessed some of the biggest jumps, as their currencies strengthened significantly against the US dollar.” - Nathalie Constantin-Métral, Principal, Mercer.
Want to know more?
Title: Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey, June 2012.
Survey details: The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The cost of housing is also included and, as it is often the biggest expense for expatriates, it plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked. New York is used as the base city and all cities are compared against it. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
The figures for Mercer’s cost of living and rental accommodation costs comparisons are derived from a survey conducted in March 2012. March 2012 exchange rates and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services have been used as basis measurements.
Availability: Mercer produces individual cost of living and rental accommodation cost reports for each city surveyed. For details, or to purchase copies of the individual city reports, visit www.mercer.com/costofliving or call client services, Warsaw on tel: +48 22 434 5383.
Mercer is a “global leader in human resource consulting and related services”. Mercer’s 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. For more information visit www.mercer.com.