As telecommuting and work-from-anywhere policies become more popular, so does living abroad.
But some cities can put a greater burden on expat wallets than others.
With rising inflation and rising accommodation costs, a new study has revealed that New York is the most expensive city in the world to live in as an expat.
Last year, Hong Kong came out on top as the most expensive city to live in for international employees, but the rising cost of living in the Big Apple has seen it jump from second to first place in ECA International’s Cost of Living Rankings for 2023.
New York is not the only entry in the list from the States: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago rank in seventh, 15th and 20th place, respectively.
This marks the first time San Francisco has cracked the top 10, which researchers blame on high inflation.
Asian cities appear in most of the rankings but rank lower than last year
ECA International analyzed the cost of consumer goods and services, factoring in rental costs in areas where expats typically live, to rank 207 cities out of 120 countries and territories around the world.
According to their data, almost half of the top 20 most expensive cities for expats are based in Asia, with China ranking five times over.
In addition, Singapore broke into the top five for the first time, as skyrocketing rents saw the city rise from 13th place in 2022 to 5th. Demand for rental homes in Southeast Asia’s financial center has outstripped supply, driving rents high.
But overall, Asian cities scored lower in ECA International’s Cost of Living Rankings than last year, partly due to lower inflation rates relative to other countries.
For example, Japan’s capital Tokyo fell from 5th place to 10th and China’s largest city, Shanghai, fell from 8th place to 13th.
Europe remains steady
Europe has widely experienced jumps in inflation since the start of the pandemic. But according to the data it has a less acute impact on the cost of living for expats than in the United States.
Most of the European cities in the top 20 claim the same place as last year.
Geneva, London, and Copenhagen remained in third, fourth and 18th place, while Zurich in Switzerland made a slight jump from 7th to 6th place.
An outlier is Istanbul, which rose 95 places to 108th place—the biggest increase of the year—on the back of an 80% surge in prices driven by economic policies. by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the report.
These are the top 20 most expensive places in the world for expats to live:
- 1. New York, US (2022 rank: 2)
- 2. Hong Kong, China (1)
- 3. Geneva, Switzerland (3)
- 4. London, UK (4)
- 5. Singapore (13)
- 6. Zurich, Switzerland (7)
- 7. San Francisco, US (11)
- 8. Tel Aviv, Israel (6)
- 9. Seoul, South Korea (10)
- 10. Tokyo, Japan (5)
- 11. Bern, Switzerland (16)
- 12. Dubai, UAE (23)
- 13. Shanghai, China (8)
- 14. Guangzhou, China (9)
- 15. Los Angeles, US (21)
- 16. Shenzhen, China (12)
- 17. Beijing, China (14)
- 18. Copenhagen, Denmark (18)
- 19. Abu Dhabi, UAE (22)
- 20. Chicago, US (25)