Dubai and Abu Dhabi rise up the rankings of most expensive cities for expats

Hong Kong has maintained its position as the most expensive location in the world, bolstered by higher prices and a stronger currency over the past year.

“Year on year price rises of 3 percent, as measured by our basket of goods and services, are higher than we typically see in Hong Kong, but are lower than rates in similar cities both within the region and globally,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director at ECA International.

Cities in the Middle East have mostly risen in the rankings in the last year with Dubai and Abu Dhabi up six and eight places respectively this year and Riyadh also up eight places to 28th.

Production Manager at ECA, Steven Kilfedder, said: “With inflation up globally, including in the UAE and elsewhere in the region, it is the strong currencies that have pushed cities in the region up in the rankings compared to other cities. The strong currency makes goods and services cheaper for those from other countries.”

ECA International has been conducting research into the cost of living for 50 years, and compares a basket of like-for-like consumer goods and services commonly purchased by foreign workers in over 490 locations worldwide.

Many locations in Asia have witnessed above-trend rates in inflation in the past 12 months. The location which has seen the fastest rate of price growth in the past year has been Colombo in Sri Lanka, causing it to rise 23 places in ECA’s rankings to 149 globally.

Many mainland Chinese cities have continued to rise in the rankings, with four cities now included in the 15 most expensive cities globally while Shanghai is also now the third most expensive city in Asia after Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Japanese locations have all dropped in the latest rankings as the yen weakened due to unexpectedly higher inflation, alongside negative interest rates.

Most locations within the EU have seen drops in the rankings after an unsteady period for the euro, with Paris falling out of the global top 30 and cities such as Madrid, Brussels and Rome all falling too.