2011 Expat Cost of Living Ranking

• • Tokyo remains the most expensive city in the world for expats
• • In Europe, Moscow is now followed by Swiss cities
• • Euro zone cities move up the ranking, boosted by their currency reinforcement

The 2011 cost of living ranking from EuroCost International is based on prices collected in June 2011 and updated with August exchange rates; it compares expat living costs, including housing costs.

Tokyo, Moscow and Luanda still in top 3

Tokyo, the Japanese capital, remains the world's most expensive city for expats, followed by Moscow that has overtaken Luanda, Angola's capital, this year.

Since last year, the Swiss franc has regained more than 10% against the euro. Swiss locations have therefore gone up the ranking and Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne are now in the top 10.

Hong Kong falls down from 4^th to 13^th place because of its currency devaluation (-12% against the euro). The same is true for Beirut (down from 13^th to 22^nd) and for New York (10 places down to 29^th).

As last year, Brazilian and Australian cities remain very expensive for expats.
Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia rank 6^th, 8^th and 14^th respectively. Sydney has gained one place to 9^th position and Canberra moves up from 22^nd to 16^th place.

The reinforcement of the euro against most currencies makes European cities move up the ranking.
Paris has risen 7 places to reach the 23^rd position. Helsinki and Amsterdam enter the top 30 (26^th and 28^th position respectively).

Most expensive cities in 2011 – worldwide ranking

	CITY	COUNTRY	(2010)
1	Tokyo	Japan	(1)
2	Moscow	Russia	(3)
3	Luanda	Angola	(2)
4	Geneva	Switzerland	(7)
5	Singapore	Singapore	(5)
6	Sao Paulo	Brazil	(8)
7	Zurich	Switzerland	(12)
8	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	(6)
9	Sydney	Australia	(10)
10	Lausanne	Switzerland	(17)
11	London	United Kingdom	(9)
12	Oslo	Norway	(11)
13	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	(4)
14	Brasilia	Brazil	(14)
15	Bern	Switzerland	(26)
16	Canberra	Australia	(22)
17	Basel	Switzerland
18	Seoul	South Korea	(16)
19	Copenhagen	Denmark	(18)
20	Kinshasa	Congo (Dem. Rep.)	(20)
21	Shanghai	China	(15)
22	Beirut	Lebanon	(13)
23	Paris	France	(30)
24	Beijing	China	(23)
25	Ndjamena	Chad	(49)
26	Helsinki	Finland	(33)
27	Mumbai	India	(27)
28	Amsterdam	Netherlands	(36)
29	New York, NY	United States	(19)
30	Stockholm	Sweden	(40)

Europe

Moscow remains the most expensive city in Europe for expatriates. The following 3 are Swiss locations: Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne. Those have overtaken London and Oslo that now rank 5^th and 6^th respectively. Due to the devaluation of its currency, Kiev (Ukraine) falls down from 9^th to 15^th position in the European ranking (32^nd in world ranking).
Istanbul and Ankara have disappeared from the top 20: the Turkish pound has lost ±23% against the euro.
Pristina (Kosovo), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Kishinev (Moldova) are the least expensive cities for expats in Europe.

Most expensive cities in 2011 – European ranking

	CITY	COUNTRY
1	Moscow	Russia
2	Geneva	Switzerland
3	Zurich	Switzerland
4	Lausanne	Switzerland
5	London	United Kingdom
6	Oslo	Norway
7	Bern	Switzerland
8	Basel	Switzerland
9	Copenhagen	Denmark
10	Paris	France
11	Helsinki	Finland
12	Amsterdam	Netherlands
13	Stockholm	Sweden
14	Rome	Italy
15	Kiev	Ukraine
16	Vienna	Austria
17	Milan	Italy
18	The Hague	Netherlands
19	Prague	Czech Republic
20	Bratislava	Slovakia

Africa

Cost of living for expats varies a lot from one location to another across the African continent.
Luanda, Kinshasa and Ndjamena are among the world's most expensive cities, whereas Tunis, Addis Ababa and Harare are among the least expensive.
The ranking can evolve rapidly in some cases, due to strong price increases or to exchange rate fluctuations.
Johannesburg has thus plummeted from 58^th to 88^th position in the ranking as a consequence of the South African rand devaluation (-9% against the euro).

Americas

The most expensive cities in America are Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. As last year, those 3 locations are ahead from New York, which is down several places in the ranking, just as the other US cities. San Francisco is down 32^nd to 59^th and Washington 48^th to 72^nd. In the bottom of the American ranking, Managua (Nicaragua) and La Paz (Bolivia) are also among the least expensive cities in the world.
In Canada, Vancouver remains the most expensive city, followed by Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Asia and Middle East

Tokyo and Singapore maintain last year's ranking (respectively 1^st and 5^th), but many Asian cities fall down. We mentioned Hong Kong previously, but all Chinese locations are down. Shanghai remains the most costly city in the country although it is down from 15^th to 21^st; Beijing is now 24^th.
With its high housing costs, Mumbai remains the most expensive Indian city, well ahead from New Delhi. Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Lahore (Pakistan) and Dacca (Bangladesh) are the least expensive Asian cities for expats.
In the Middle East, Beirut remains the most expensive city, followed by Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.

Methodology