The Philippine Online Chronicles

If you’re ever asked which city is probably the most expensive to stay in for an expatriate citizen in the world, you would probably get the answer wrong. According to the new survey released by the group Mercer, the most expensive city to stay in is not even one of the well-known financial centers in the developed world. The study used the New York as that standard for comparison.

Topping the list for the first time was the city of Luanda in the African country of Angola. The country has been experiencing an economic boom of sorts due to the increased industrialization in the countryside, as it has gotten a fresh set of foreign investors following the discovery of very promising oil prospects off the coast. The per capita gross domestic product or GDP is quite high, at around USD6100 per year, but this is still pretty low compared to how much an average American earns – a little under USD50 thousand a year. For a country that’s just on the cusp of development, being ranked as the most expensive city can be quite surprising. The rental for a luxury two-bedroom apartment in Luanda goes for an average of around USD6700! That’s an eye-popping figure of around P300 thousand just for a month’s rent!

The rankings were derived by comparing the prices of usual items that a foreigner would need to avail of while staying for business in a foreign city. These include the cost of transportation, food, basic utilities and for some very special cases – security and having a safe place to live in. In African countries where organized crime and warlord cultures are still the norm, this would definitely carry a very hefty price tag. This is one of the reasons why Luanda ended up at the top of the list despite not being known for the high cost of living for the native citizens of Angola. For instance, the regular meal in Luanda comprised of a burger and a drink is about USD17  – almost twice or thrice the amount in other major financial capitals.

A more predictable option actually came in second. Tokyo, Japan has always been known to be an expensive city. Much of it is due to the fact that real estate in the city itself is very expensive. During some time in the 1980s, the price of land in the metropolitan area soared so high that the city’s value was said to be more than the value of some countries. As expected, the price of rent in Japan is what sent it to the upper ranks – a two bedroom apartment in the city is worth around USD4200!

Another shocker of a result is in third: the capital of the landlocked country of Chad is surprisingly ranked so high. According to some estimates, Chad is actually one of the poorest nations in the world. Like most of the troubled countries in Africa, Chad has had to deal with corrupt regimes and a less than ideal peace and order situation for the past few decades. The capital N’Djamena isn’t the first place you’ll think of when it comes to foreign investors and the like, but to the few that actually choose to set up shop in the city, the cost of living is absolutely sky high. Most people may be surviving on USD1600 per year, but the cost of luxury goods and an above-average accommodation in the city is absolutely astronomical. The location of Chad deep in the heart of Saharan Africa makes it hard for traders to transport goods. This makes it more likely for higher than usual premiums to be placed on goods that are meant for expat consumption.

Placing fourth is another city that is well known for being very expensive – Moscow. Aside from having expensive rent – around the same price as a New York apartment – other common things like newspapers are expensive in Moscow. Russia-based businessmen would have to shell out twice as much to be able to keep an international paper subscription.

The Swiss city of Geneva is fifth. Switzerland is one of the world’s richest cities and the cost of living there is also among the world’s highest. Rounding out the top ten are the Japanese city of Osaka, Libreville in Gabon, Zurich in Switzerland, the territory of Hong Kong in China, and the Danish capital of Copenhagen.

The highest ranked Southeast Asian nation on the list is Singapore. The island nation was 11^th among the cities surveyed. Other surprising entries in the top 25 included the city of Victoria in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles and very chaotic capital of Niamey in Niger.

The Philippines’ capital of Manila was not included in the survey. Other Southeast Asian cities that were polled were quite low in the rankings meaning that expats didn’t really have to spend as much to live in those areas. Aside from Singapore that ranked 11^th, the rest of Southeast Asian cities were in the bottom half. Jakarta, Indonesia was 79^th; Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam were ranked jointly at 121^st. Vietnam’s largest city Ho Chi Minh was 132^nd. Kuala Lumpur was very near the bottom of the list at 138^th.

With new emerging markets, migration patterns, and changes in how trade is done in many areas, it would be interesting to see which cities would emerge as the costliest to live in for expats in the coming years.