Expatriate International Cost of Living

Zimbabwe is the most expensive country for Expatriates to live in due to the current economic crisis. Hong Kong is the second most expensive country due to the very high cost of housing and healthcare. Singapore is the third most expensive country. Singapore’s education system, which is widely regarded as the best in the world, is also the most expensive for expatriates when priced in US Dollars.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/The-Most-Expensive-Countries-in-the-World-for-Expatriate-Professional-Migrants_717.cfm

Asia Pacific has 3 cities in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world. The Cost of Living Index (COLI) for cities in Asia Pacific is the result of dividing each locations cost of living by the cost of living in New York NY (USA) using all 13 basket groups. New York therefore has a COLI of 100 for global comparison purposes.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/Asia-Pacific-Expat-Cost-of-Living-Comparison_709.cfm

San Francisco CA is the most expensive location in the Americas as at January 2020. American countries and cities are extremely diverse ranging from the most developed, wealthy and technologically advanced, through to some of the poorest and least developed in the world, with a corresponding wide range in local cost of living.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/America-Expat-Cost-of-Living-Comparison_710.cfm

The top 10 most expensive cities in Africa for an Expat as at January 2020. Overall African countries are some of the poorest and least developed in the world, with relatively low local cost of living expenses; however the cost of importing and transporting the international standard of goods that expatriates expect to purchase in the cities in this region makes it extremely expensive to maintain the lifestyle that they are used to.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/Africa-Expat-Cost-of-Living-Comparison_711.cfm

Prices are out of control. Wage purchasing power has plummeted due to food and fuel prices soaring. Foreign currency shortages have got even worse than before. Inflation is now over 500%…….it is now the most expensive city in Africa and the world in 2020.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/Africa-Expat-Cost-of-Living-Comparison_711.cfm

The most expensive city in Asia-Pacific as at January 2020 is mainly so costly for Expats due to extremely high housing costs, as well as the high cost of schooling and limited space available making rentals high. However, when you exclude costs related to housing, education, medical and transport, this city falls out of the top ten city rankings for Asia Pacific…

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/Asia-Pacific-Expat-Cost-of-Living-Comparison_709.cfm

For decades Zimbabwe’s policies have destroyed the economy and the livelihoods of Zimbabweans, including hyperinflation that eventually led the country to ditch its worthless sovereign currency in favour of the United States dollar. In June 2019 year the government stopped the use of US dollars in local transactions. This change was in order to prepare for a next-generation Zimbabwean dollar. The impact has been severe, with prices out of control. Wage purchasing power has plummeted due to food and fuel prices soaring. Foreign currency shortages have got even worse than before. The inflation rate (CPI) hit 480.7% in November 2019. As a result there is increasing unrest, marches and protests as people battle to survive the crisis. As at January 2020 Harare has become the most expensive city to live in due the current economic crisis.

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-article/International-City-Cost-of-Living-for-Expatriate-Professional-Migrants_716.cfm

#Hong-Kong is the most expensive city in the world in 2019, followed by #Singapore and #Monaco. The biggest changes this year was #Harare in #Zimbabwe moving into the top 10 and #Luanda in #Angola dropping out. For more

Compared to New York, the equivalent cost in Johannesburg is as follows:
1) Alcohol (where available) & Tobacco: for items such as beer, spirits, wine and tobacco related products such as cigarettes. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$490
2) Clothing: for items such as business, casual and children’s clothing and footwear. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$700
3) Communication: for various communication costs such as home telephone rental, internet subscription, mobile service provider tariff and data costs. A basket costing USD$200 in New York costs USD$256
4) Education: for items such as creche / pre-school fees, primary school fees, high school fees and tertiary study fees. A basket costing USD$30000 in New York costs USD$17400
5) Furniture & Appliances: for items such as dining table and chairs, home entertainment, kitchen appliances, and sofas. A basket costing USD$2500 in New York costs USD$2100
6) Groceries: for items such as consumables, cleaning prod

https://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-review/South-Africa-Johannesburg_185.cfm

Hong Kong is the most expensive city in the world for an expatriate professional migrant to live in as at July 2019, followed by Singapore and Monaco.

Hong Kong is the most expensive city due to the very high cost of housing and healthcare, as well as the strong Hong Kong dollar which is fixed against the US Dollar.

Singapore’s education system, which is widely regarded as the best in the world, is also the most expensive for expatriates when priced in US Dollars, the cost of housing is also extremely high due to the limited space and premium on high quality expatriate accommodation, while the complex Certificate of Entitlement system makes car prices excessive, resulting in Singapore’s transport costs being amongst the highest in the world.

This quarterly survey by Xpatulator.com of cost of living world-wide is based on expatriate professional migrant spending as opposed to local people’s spending. The difference between these two groups is that an expatriate professional migrant tends to pay a premium for “international” brands ideally from their home country, and they tend to make use of premium service providers such as up-market medical practices, international schools, and most prefer to live in exclusive, secure accommodation in order to maintain the quality of life to which they are accustomed back home. The survey covers over 200 items grouped into 13 cost of living baskets. The cost of living information is used by Xpatulator.com subscribers to calculate cost of living differences between global home and host locations for expatriate professional migrants. Cost of living differences are key to calculating expatriate pay for international assignments.