Hong Kong has ended its 4-12 months reign as the most costly town globally for expatriates — surpassed by New York which took 1st area, in accordance to a new survey.
ECA International’s hottest “Expense of Dwelling” investigation ranked 207 metropolitan areas based mostly on a basket of day-to-day items and products and services commonly obtained by assignees.
That features meals, utilities, public transportation and primary desires these as house products. The analysis aims to help companies determine expense-of-living allowances for assignees, the facts organization mentioned.
Hong Kong fell in our rankings as the raise in rates of day-to-working day items and products and services was tempered by falls in accommodation prices in the metropolis.
Lee Quane
ECA International
Continue to, Hong Kong retained its place as the most highly-priced site in Asia.
“Prices for goods and expert services in Hong Kong rose at multi-year highs, demonstrating that the metropolis was not spared from the wave of inflation we have noticed through the planet in the earlier calendar year,” mentioned Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA Global.
“In spite of this, Hong Kong fell in our rankings as the improve in selling prices of working day-to-working day items and expert services was tempered by falls in accommodation costs in the city.”
Hong Kong has hiked its house loan curiosity prices to retain pace with the U.S. Federal Reserve — and house prices plunged to a 5-yr low in October as borrowing charges soar. The report is based mostly on information and facts gathered in March, from 207 cities in 120 nations around the world, claimed ECA. Experiences recommend citizens of Hong Kong remaining the city in droves very last yr — thanks to Covid-19 limits and what they see as an erosion of democratic norms.
Singapore moves up
The 2nd most costly locale in Asia is Singapore, which rose eight destinations from last year’s position.
Singapore is also the fifth most costly site globally, the survey confirmed, marking the initial time it has risen into the leading five.
This ascent was principally driven by “speedily increasing accommodation expenses,” according to the ECA.
A modern report from the City Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Centre for Housing discovered that personal rental properties in Singapore had the best month-to-month lease in Asia Pacific at $2,600 — “much exceeding” other towns.
Earlier peace of Covid-19 limitations in Singapore drove up demand for rental lodging, which was “not matched” by an maximize of source, stated Quane.
Even so, Singapore is one particular of only a handful of places in Asia that moved up the rankings this 12 months.
Almost all the Asian destinations surveyed fell in the rankings, the report reported, citing “reduce fees of inflation relative to other regions” that ended up surveyed.
“[This] indicated that expatriates will locate residing in Asian towns somewhat less costly than the rest of the world in the previous yr,” the report stated.
Most high priced destinations for expatriates in Asia
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Seoul
- Tokyo
- Shanghai
- Guangzhou
- Shenzhen
- Beijing
- Taipei
- Yokohama
For instance, Chinese metropolitan areas like Shanghai and Guangzhou have fallen out of the world wide top rated 10 and now rank as the 13th and 14th most expensive towns in the planet.
“China’s reasonably late emergence from Covid-19 related restrictions experienced an effects on its economy,” spelled out Quane.
“The yuan is weaker towards the U.S. dollar than it was very last calendar year, resulting in lower expenditures in its metropolitan areas.”
Similarly, currency depreciation “counteracted” inflation premiums in Japanese metropolitan areas — Tokyo, which was top rated 5 globally in the earlier five yrs, dropped five areas to 10th, ECA claimed.
“Tokyo’s slide in our rankings would make it a comparatively cheaper location in comparison to current yrs,” stated Quane.
“Nevertheless, for organizations transferring personnel from Japan … [it] implies that organizations might have to pay back far more in get to guarantee that their employees’ buying power is safeguarded while they are overseas.”
New York on top
In the U.S., rankings for all cities surged this yr due to the power of the U.S. greenback and “significant rises” in rental expenditures, claimed the report.
According to the survey, New York moved up a single place to initially place, although San Francisco moved up 4 places from 11th to 7th.
