Top Expensive Cities 2024

July 5, 2024

Mercer’s Cost of Living City rankings show that Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich are the world’s most expensive places for expats in 2024. From the previous year, these towns have always been in this spot. The cost of living is relatively cheap in cities like Islamabad, Lagos, and Abuja, on the other hand.

Mercer’s 2024 Ranking Analysis

Mercer evaluated 226 cities globally, basing its findings on the cost of over 200 items ranging from housing and transport to food and entertainment. New York City serves as the baseline for measurement, with costs calibrated in US dollars to ensure uniformity across the data. Several dynamics affect living expenses for expatriates. Among these are changes in the exchange rate and inflation, which have a direct effect on the income and savings of expats. Costs for housing, taxes, education, and utilities have also gone up because of less stable macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions and more intense battles.

Regional Highlights

London (ranked 8th), Copenhagen (ranked 11th), Vienna (ranked 24th), Paris (ranked 29th), and Amsterdam (30th) are just a few of the European places where prices are very high. Dubai is the most expensive place to live in the Middle East (15th), and Uruguay is the most expensive place to live in South America (42nd). In North America, New York City is the best, coming in at number seven. In Africa, Bangui is the most expensive city (ranked 14th), while in the Pacific, Sydney is the most expensive city.