International Cost of Living Comparison – Asia and Africa Rising

An international cost of living comparison conducted by Xpatulator.com indicates London is the most expensive international location for expatriates, however 3 of the top 5 most expensive locations, Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 5th respectively are in Asia.   In contrast New York and other US locations haves dropped primarily due to the weakness of the US Dollar as well as the economic slowdown which appears to have slowed the increase in prices relative to other international locations.  Groceries are the most expensive in Africa, with 6 of the 10 most expensive locations. 

The cost of living comparison prices goods and services that expatriates spend their salaries on, and reports indexes for 13 different basket groups using New York (100) as the base.

All Items Cost of Living Comparison – Top 10

The 10 most expensive international locations for expatriates to live, based on all items (Index is in brackets) as at March 2008 are:

1. London, United Kingdom (126.63)

2. Tokyo, Japan (121.88)

3. Seoul, Republic of Korea (119.54)

4. Oslo, Norway (115.39)

5. Hong Kong, China (113.00)

6. Copenhagen, Denmark (112.63)

7. Moscow, Russia (110.35)

8. Geneva, Switzerland (110.06)

9. Hamilton, Bermuda (109.63)

10.Luanda, Angola (108.51)

This means that overall goods or services that cost USD$100 in New York, cost the equivalent of USD$126.63 in London, and USD$108.51 in Luanda. 

All Items Cost of Living Comparison – Bottom 10

The bottom 10 (least expensive) locations for expatriates to live, based on all items (Index is in brackets) as at March 2008 are:

1. Harare, Zimbabwe (16.44)

2. Phnom Penh, Cambodia (44.89)

3. Sanaa, Yemen (44.95)

4. Dushanbe, Tajikistan (51.24)

5. Tripoli, Libya (53.22)

6. Quito, Ecuador (53.23)

7. Buenos Aires, Argentina (53.25)

8. La Paz, Bolivia (53.54)

9. Asmara, Eritrea (54.49)

10.Tashkent, Uzbekistan (56.06)

This means that overall, goods or services that cost USD$100 in New York, cost the equivalent of just USD$16.44 in Harare, and USD$56.06 in Tashkent. 

Cost of living not only varies from one location to another, but also varies by type of expense, due in the main, to local supply and demand variations in each location.  In some locations, transport is more costly while groceries are relatively less costly and vice versa. 

In terms of groceries Seoul is the most expensive, while Africa has Brazzaville, Accra, Lagos, Abidjan, Kinshasa, and Luanda in the top 10.

Grocery Items Cost of Living Comparison – Top 10

The top 10 (most expensive) international locations for expatriates to live based on the price of groceries as at March 2008 are as follows:

1. Seoul, Republic of Korea

2. Brazzaville, Congo

3. Ashgabat Turkmenistan

4. Accra, Ghana

5. Lagos, Nigeria

6. Copenhagen, Denmark

7. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

8. Kinshasa Congo Democratic Rep

9. Luanda, Angola

10.Oslo, Norway

Establishing salary levels for international assignments requires that organisations ensure that those items the expatriate will spend their salary on are used the cost of living calculation.  This is illustrated by the fact that although London is ranked as the most expensive international location in terms of overall cost of living, it is only ranked 26th most expensive location for groceries. 

Locations in Africa and Asia are becoming relatively more expensive in terms of cost of living for expatriates; organisations need to take this into account when establishing expatriate pay for international assignments.

The overall rank of all 228 international locations, in terms of overall cost of living, is available on the website at http://www.xpatulator.com/main/locations/