The most expensive cities worldwide - 2025
Expat cost of living ranking
Ranking
EuroCost International's annual cost of living ranking compares expat living costs in major locations worldwide, including housing costs but excluding health and education costs.
The 2025 ranking is based on prices recorded in June 2025 and updated on the basis of September 2025 exchange rates. 283 locations have been considered for this ranking.
Key points
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Geneva remains the world's most expensive city for expats in 2025, confirming its first place in the 2024 ranking. The Swiss franc remained stable year-on-year against the euro, but strengthened by approximately 5% against the US dollar.
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Geneva is ahead of another European city, London, which has risen two places compared to last year. The very high cost of rent in the British capital partly explains this ranking.
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In third place is New York City, which already ranked the same in 2023 and 2024. On the other hand, Hong Kong, ranked second in 2024, has dropped out of the top three.
Geneva remains the world's most expensive city for expats in 2025, confirming its first place in the 2024 ranking. The Swiss franc remained stable year-on-year against the euro, but strengthened by approximately 5% against the US dollar. This good performance of the Swiss currency contributes significantly to the high cost of living for expats living in Swiss cities.
Geneva is ahead of another European city, London, which has risen two places compared to last year. The very high cost of rent in the British capital partly explains this ranking.
In third place is New York City, which already ranked the same in 2023 and 2024. On the other hand, Hong Kong, ranked second in 2024, has dropped out of the top three.
The US dollar has lost 5.0% year-on-year against the euro since our previous ranking. This is the third consecutive decline for the US currency, with declines of 1.8% between 2023 and 2024 and an even greater drop of 7.8% between 2022 and 2023. Despite this, the cost of living in American cities remains very high, mainly due to the cost of rent.
Three new cities have joined our top 30 this year. First, Moscow, ranked 20th, where the rouble has strengthened significantly over the past year. Also new is Jerusalem. Here again, the local currency has strengthened over the past year, leading to a sharp increase in the cost of living for expats in Israel. Tel Aviv also jumped up the rankings, moving from 20th to 10th place, Finally, Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, has joined the rankings in 28th place. On the other hand, Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney have disappeared from the top 30.
Within the European Union, the Danish capital, Copenhagen, remains the most expensive city. Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is the city in the Eurozone with the highest cost of living. Also notable is the strong rise of the city of Reykjavik in Iceland, which rose from 28th to 9th place this year.
Regional rankings
Africa
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There are no changes compared to last year in the top five places in this regional ranking. Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remains the most expensive city in Africa in 2025. It ranks 13th worldwide. Next is Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, which ranks 15th. Luanda, capital of Angola, is the third most expensive city on the continent and ranks 26th worldwide. Just behind in this ranking are the capitals of Chad (N'Djamena), Guinea (Conakry) and Ghana (Accra). Among the least expensive cities, many are located in the south of the continent, such as Gaborone in Botswana, Windhoek in Namibia, and several cities in South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria). |
Americas
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As in our last ranking, New York remains the most expensive city in the Americas, ahead of San Francisco and the Hawaiian capital, Honolulu. The devaluation of the dollar against several currencies (including the euro) has caused most American cities to slightly decline in our global ranking. Boston has dropped from 11th to 16th place worldwide, and Washington, D.C., from 14th to 18th. In Canada, the Canadian dollar has fallen sharply, losing 7.1% against the euro. It has also lost 2.1% against the US dollar. Toronto remains the most expensive city in the country, but has significantly dropped in the global ranking. Instability remains very high in Argentina and Venezuela. Prices are constantly rising in Buenos Aires and Caracas, while the local currencies of both countries have failed to stabilize. Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, remains the least expensive city in the Americas in 2025.
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Asia-Oceania
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In the Asia-Oceania region, the cost of living for expatriates is the highest in Hong Kong, where rents are among the most expensive in the world. The Hong Kong dollar has remained stable against the US dollar since last year, but has depreciated by about 5% against the euro. In this regional ranking, we find Singapore next, followed by the Japanese capital, Tokyo. In China, Shanghai and Beijing are now out of the worldwide top 30. This is explained by the decline of the local currency against the euro and also by low inflation. Among the least expensive cities in Asia, we can mention Kathmandu in Nepal and some Indian cities such as Chennai and Pune. In Oceania, the most expensive city is Papeete in French Polynesia, just ahead of the Australian city of Sydney.
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Europe
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Geneva is the most expensive city in Europe in 2025, but also the most expensive city in the world for expatriates. Other Swiss cities are also well represented in this ranking, with Zurich, Lausanne, Basel and Bern among the most expensive cities in Europe and also in the top 15 worldwide. London ranks second in the European ranking. Despite the slight decline of the pound sterling against the euro (-2.5% year-on-year), the cost of living, and particularly housing, remains very high in the British capital. In Iceland, the strengthening of the local currency makes Reykjavik one of the most expensive cities in Europe, and even in the world. Within the European Union, Copenhagen, the Danish capital, remains the most expensive city. Amsterdam remains the most expensive city in the Eurozone, ahead of the Austrian and French capitals, Vienna and Paris. Among the cheapest capital cities in Europe for expats are Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Middle East
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In this region, Israel has the two cities with the highest cost of living for expatriates: Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The strengthening of the local currency against the euro (+4.7%) and the US dollar (+9.7%) since our last ranking reinforces this observation. Next in the ranking are Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, followed by Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and Amman in Jordan. At the bottom of the ranking, Lahore in Pakistan is among the least expensive cities in this region among the cities studied.
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Our methodology
EuroCost International's cost of living surveys aim at comparing the cost of living for expatriates worldwide. They cover the whole basket of goods and services consumed by expatriates, excepted health and school costs (specific reports are provided for the latter).
The ranking is based on surveys conducted in June 2025 and includes rental costs. It should be noted that the rent prices used in this study are those paid by expatriates and that they are not representative for average rents paid by local inhabitants of the surveyed locations.
Rent prices used for this ranking are average rents for different types of housing favoured by expatriates and collected in the specific areas where they live. In some cities, prices for a specific type of housing can significantly differ from one area to another. This is for example the case for London, Mumbai and New York. Detailed information per city can be obtained in EuroCost International's rent surveys.