Cost of Living City Ranking 2022

Contributor

Slagin Parakatil

Global Product Leader
Contributor

Yvonne Traber

Global and Europe Mobility Leader

Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living City Ranking reveals the most expensive cities for international employees. How can employers help move mobile employees ahead of inflation?

Amplified by the global health crisis and the conflict in Ukraine, skyrocketing inflation and currency volatility are affecting international economic balances and the cost of living for each of us. For organizations with globally distributed workforces, assessing and managing the impact on their employees’ financial wellbeing may be particularly complex.

Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey provides employers with current, extensive and reliable data to help them navigate compensation strategies for their mobile employees in the unpredictable global markets.

What are the most expensive cities in the world for international employees?

Hong Kong tops Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living City Ranking, based on our latest research, followed by Zurich and Geneva, while Ankara closes the ranking at the 227th spot.

Check out the full ranking below and visit our Newsroom for more local insights in the press releases from across geographies.

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This map presents the most and least expensive cities in the world for international employees. The top 10 most expensive cities are, in order from rank 1 to rank 10: Hong Kong, Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Tel Aviv, New York City, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing. The 10 least expensive cities are, in order from rank 218 to 227: Algiers, Almaty, Tunis, Tashkent, Istanbul, Karachi, Islamabad, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Ankara.

Rank	City	Location
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong SAR
2	Zurich	Switzerland
3	Geneva	Switzerland
4	Basel	Switzerland
5	Bern	Switzerland
6	Tel Aviv	Israel
7	New York City, NY	United States
8	Singapore	Singapore
9	Tokyo	Japan
10	Beijing	China
11	Copenhagen	Denmark
12	Shanghai	China
13	Shenzhen	China
14	Seoul	South Korea
15	London	United Kingdom
16	Nassau	Bahamas
17	Los Angeles, CA	United States
18	Guangzhou	China
19	San Francisco, CA	United States
20	Honolulu, HI	United States
21	Vienna	Austria
22	Qingdao	China
23	Bangui	Central African Republic
24	Libreville	Gabon
25	Amsterdam	Netherlands
26	Nanjing	China
27	Oslo	Norway
28	Taipei	Taiwan
29	Washington, DC	United States
30	Boston, MA	United States
31	Dubai	United Arab Emirates
32	Miami, FL	United States
33	Munich	Germany
34	Busan	South Korea
35	Paris	France
36	Chicago, IL	United States
37	Osaka	Japan
38	Victoria	Seychelles
39	Brussels	Belgium
40	Shenyang	China
41	Djibouti	Djibouti
42	Atlanta, GA	United States
43	Helsinki	Finland
44	Chengdu	China
45	Seattle, WA	United States
46	Berlin	Germany
47	The Hague	Netherlands
48	Milan	Italy
49	Dublin	Ireland
50	Yokohama	Japan
51	Nagoya	Japan
52	Luxembourg	Luxembourg
53	Kinshasa	The Democratic Republic Of The Congo
54	Noumea	New Caledonia
55	Lagos	Nigeria
56	Chongqing	China
57	Rome	Italy
58	Sydney	Australia
59	Hamburg	Germany
60	Prague	Czech Republic
61	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
62	Frankfurt	Germany
63	Xian	China
64	Luanda	Angola
65	Dakar	Senegal
66	Edinburgh	United Kingdom
67	Melbourne	Australia
68	Abidjan	Côte D'Ivoire
69	Suzhou	China
70	Philadelphia, PA	United States
71	Stuttgart	Germany
72	San Juan	Puerto Rico
73	Wuhan	China
74	Brazzaville	The Republic Of Congo
75	Dallas, TX	United States
76	Conakry	Guinea Republic
77	Douala	Cameroon
78	Barcelona	Spain
79	Riga	Latvia
80	N'Djamena	Chad
81	Dusseldorf	Germany
82	Pittsburgh, PA	United States
83	Minneapolis, MN	United States
84	Brisbane	Australia
85	Houston, TX	United States
86	Glasgow	United Kingdom
87	Stockholm	Sweden
88	Pointe-A-Pitre	Guadeloupe (France)
89	Toronto	Canada
90	Madrid	Spain
91	Portland, OR	United States
92	Taichung	Taiwan
93	Aberdeen	United Kingdom
94	Birmingham	United Kingdom
95	Auckland	New Zealand
96	Lyon	France
97	Perth	Australia
98	Dhaka	Bangladesh
99	Leipzig	Germany
100	Yaounde	Cameroon
101	St. Louis, MO	United States
102	Adelaide	Australia
103	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia
104	Canberra	Australia
105	Bratislava	Slovakia
106	Bangkok	Thailand
107	Detroit, MI	United States
108	Vancouver	Canada
109	Lisbon	Portugal
110	Toulouse	France
111	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia
112	Cleveland, OH	United States
113	Kaohsiung	Taiwan
114	Buenos Aires	Argentina
115	Amman	Jordan
116	Nuremberg	Germany
117	Manama	Bahrain
118	Bamako	Mali
119	Muscat	Oman
120	Wellington	New Zealand
121	Belfast	United Kingdom
122	Manila	Philippines
123	Montevideo	Uruguay
124	Lome	Togo
125	Montreal	Canada
126	Athens	Greece
127	Mumbai	India
128	Cotonou	Benin
129	Harare	Zimbabwe
130	Santiago	Chile
131	Kuwait City	Kuwait
132	Ottawa	Canada
133	Doha	Qatar
134	Phnom Penh	Cambodia
135	Port Of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago
136	Guatemala City	Guatemala
137	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso
138	Niamey	Niger
139	San Jose	Costa Rica
140	Tallinn	Estonia
141	Calgary	Canada
142	Havana	Cuba
143	Casablanca	Morocco
144	Bujumbura	Burundi
145	Ljubljana	Slovenia
146	Accra	Ghana
147	Abuja	Nigeria
148	Vilnius	Lithuania
149	Mexico City	Mexico
150	Hanoi	Vietnam
151	Jakarta	Indonesia
152	Panama City	Panama
153	Kingston	Jamaica
154	Cairo	Egypt
155	New Delhi	India
156	Quito	Ecuador
157	Vientiane	Lao People'S Democratic Republic
158	Bucharest	Romania
159	Zagreb	Croatia
160	Nairobi	Kenya
161	Tirana	Albania
162	Rabat	Morocco
163	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam
164	Dar Es Salaam	Tanzania
165	Limassol	Cyprus
166	Kampala	Uganda
167	Maputo	Mozambique
168	Sao Paulo	Brazil
169	Nouakchott	Mauritania
170	Sofia	Bulgaria
171	Port-Au-Prince	Haiti
172	Lima	Peru
173	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic
174	Warsaw	Poland
175	Belgrade	Serbia
176	Rio De Janeiro	Brazil
177	Chennai	India
178	Bengaluru	India
179	Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei
180	Budapest	Hungary
181	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia
182	San Salvador	El Salvador
183	Colombo	Sri Lanka
184	Blantyre	Malawi
185	Monterrey	Mexico
186	Baku	Azerbaijan
187	Wroclaw	Poland
188	Antananarivo	Madagascar
189	Tegucigalpa	Honduras
190	Krakow	Poland
191	Port Louis	Mauritius
192	Hyderabad	India
193	Johannesburg	South Africa
194	Cape Town	South Africa
195	Asuncion	Paraguay
196	La Paz	Bolivia
197	Yerevan	Armenia
198	Yangon	Myanmar
199	Lusaka	Zambia
200	Brasilia	Brazil
201	Pune	India
202	Banjul	Gambia
203	Kolkata	India
204	Minsk	Belarus
205	Bogota	Colombia
206	Skopje	Macedonia
207	Manaus	Brazil
208	Kigali	Rwanda
209	Sarajevo	Bosnia-Herzegovina
210	Belo Horizonte	Brazil
211	Johor Bahru	Malaysia
212	Managua	Nicaragua
213	Windhoek	Namibia
214	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia
215	Gaborone	Botswana
216	Durban	South Africa
217	Tbilisi	Georgia
218	Algiers	Algeria
219	Almaty	Kazakhstan
220	Tunis	Tunisia
221	Tashkent	Uzbekistan
222	Istanbul	Türkiye
223	Karachi	Pakistan
224	Islamabad	Pakistan
225	Dushanbe	Tajikistan
226	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan
227	Ankara	Türkiye

The return of high inflation

…and what it means for purchasing power across markets.

With the recent return of high inflation across the globe, employees are increasingly concerned about their purchasing power, resulting in salary increase expectations. Companies, on the other hand, need to strike a delicate balance between controlling their costs while struggling to attract and retain talent.

Addressing these issues with regard to internationally mobile employees is a complex and significant challenge for multinational employers.

They may adopt various strategies to protect the purchasing power of their international workforce in times of market volatility, but it’s important that they understand the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches. The consequences of their decisions will impact both the business and the financial wellbeing of their employees.

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Gasoline: The chart shows the movement of gasoline prices across selected locations. By far, the highest price increase occurred in Istanbul, followed by Los Angeles, Barcelona, New York City and Berlin. No price movement occurred for Dakar. Gasoline price decrease did not occur in any of the locations. The data refer to one liter of gasoline, unleaded 95 octane.
Cooking oil: The chart shows the movement of cooking oil prices across selected locations. The highest price increase occurred in Barcelona, followed by Istanbul, Dublin, Beijing and Warsaw. No price movement occurred in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Paris and Tokyo. Price decrease occurred in Mumbai, Seoul, Dubai, Toronto and Johannesburg. The data refer to cooking oil (1 lt / 33.8 oz / 920 gr).
Beer: The chart shows the movement of beer prices across selected locations. By far, the highest price increase occurred in Istanbul. No price movement occurred in 9 out of the 25 cities. The most significant price decrease occurred in Warsaw, followed by Berlin, Nairobi, Toronto and Beijing. The data refer to international branded beer (0.33l / 11.2oz).
Bread: The chart shows the movement of bread prices across selected locations. The highest price increase occurred in Istanbul, Mexico City, São Paulo, Dublin and Warsaw. No price movement occurred in Beijing, Berlin, Dakar, Hong Kong, Paris, Seoul and Sydney. The most significant price decrease occurred in New York City, Los Angeles, Dubai, Johannesburg and Mumbai. The data refer to white sliced toast bread (1000 gr / 35.3 oz).

Where cost of living meets quality

Cost of living is one of the key factors of city attractiveness for international talent, business and investments, but what do we learn when we also take quality of living into account?

Competition among cities is fierce, especially in times of galloping inflation hitting the majority of locations around the world. Which cities are currently best positioned to attract and retain top talent and international businesses?

A city’s attractiveness is based on a number of factors, and while the cost of life is clearly an important one, other components include the affordability of housing, the quality of life based on a range of factors such as safety, sanitation, eco-friendliness or education standards, as well as governance and taxation considerations.

The infographic on the right shows the results of our analysis that takes into account a combination of selected factors, drawing on Mercer’s latest cost of living and quality of living research.

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This infographic shows the correlation between the Cost of Living Index and Quality of Living Index for selected global cities, as well as their score in the Eco-City Index. Some of the locations with the lowest cost of living and highest quality of living are Vancouver, Toronto, Stockholm, Lisbon and Frankfurt. Hong Kong has the highest cost of living but lower quality of living than many other locations. The general trend shows that the locations with higher cost of living and quality of living also rank higher for eco-friendliness.

What makes a city attractive for international talent?

How can you ensure your mobile employees stay happy and efficient in the assignment location?

In a recent webinar, our consultants shared highlights of Mercer’s latest global cost of living and quality of living research, and what it means for organizations and cities looking to attract and retain international talent.

Mercer’s Cost of Living data and Research

Mercer’s annual Cost of Living city ranking is based on our Cost of Living data research - one of the most recognized and extensive surveys of its kind, encompassing over 400 cities around the world. Carried out twice per year, the survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments around the world determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees.

How we calculate the cost of living index

In addition to evaluating more than 200 goods and services, Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey highlights essential factors — such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation and accommodation price instability — in determining the cost of packages for internationally mobile employees.

To help ensure the highest relevance of the data we provide, Mercer continuously keeps its Cost of Living Research methodology abreast with the latest trends, adjusting it to the international market developments and international assignees’ spending patterns.

Mercer inflation definition

Inflation is generally defined as the measure of price movements from time T to time T+1, using exactly the same specification of item in terms of packaging size and characteristics.

Therefore, for the purpose of Mercer’s Cost of Living survey, Mercer’s inflation quoted figure is designed to provide an indication of how the index has moved in the last six or 12 months in local currency terms, regardless of the currency fluctuations between the home and the host location.

The overall Cost of Living Index reflects the prices of over 200 items from the following categories: