The 100 Most Expensive Cities in the World to Live and Work

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Do you dream of having an international career and living outside Brazil? According to Mercer’s 26th Annual Cost of Living Survey, Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates.

The city remains top of the list, but the city of Asgabate, Turkmenistan, climbed from seventh to second place between 2019 and 2020. Tokyo and Zurich remain in third and fourth place.

The survey aims to help companies and governments determine wage strategies for professionals leaving their home countries. New York, which ranks 6th, is used as a basis for comparison and currency fluctuations are measured against the US dollar.

The 2020 ranking includes 209 cities on five continents and considers such aspects as housing, transportation, food, clothing, household items, and entertainment.

Three Brazilian cities feature in the list. Last year, the city of São Paulo ranked 86th and has now dropped to 130th place. Rio de Janeiro ranks 160th and Brasília in 190th.

According to Mercer Brazil’s Mobility Leader, Inaê Machado, the lower living costs in Brazilian cities for foreigners is a reflection of the declining costs of goods and services in the global comparison, “in addition to the depreciation of the real against foreign currencies,” she says.

Below is the list of the 100 most expensive cities to live and work in the world:

Ranking 2020 City Country/Region
1 Hong Kong HONG KONG (SAR)
2 Asgabate TURKMENISTAN
3 Tokyo JAPAN
4 Zurich SWITZERLAND
5 Singapore SINGAPORE
6 New York UNITED STATES
7 Shanghai CHINA
8 Bern SWITZERLAND
9 Geneva SWITZERLAND
10 Beijing CHINA
11 Seoul SOUTH KOREA
12 Tel Aviv ISRAEL
13 Shenzhen CHINA
14 Victoria SEYCHELLES
15 N’Djamena CHAD
16 San Franciso UNITED STATES
17 Los Angeles UNITED STATES
18 Lagos NIGERIA
19 London UNITED KINGDOM
20 Canton CHINA
21 Moscow RUSSIA
22 Osaka JAPAN
23 Dubai ARAB EMIRATES
24 Kinshasa DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
25 Copenhagen DENMARK
26 Nagoya JAPAN
26 Dhaka BANGLADESH
28 Taipei TAIWAN
28 Honolulu UNITED STATES
30 Chicago UNITED STATES
31 Riyadh SAUDI ARABIA
32 Washington UNITED STATES
33 Libreville GABON
34 Nanking CHINA
35 Bangkok THAILAND
36 Abidjan IVORY COAST
37 Miami UNITED STATES
38 Tianjin CHINA
39 Abu Dhabi ARAB EMIRATES
40 Chengdu CHINA
41 Boston UNITED STATES
42 Noumea NEW CALEDONIA
43 Qingdao CHINA
44 Brazzaville CONGO
45 Beirut LEBANON
46 Dublin IRELAND
47 Milan ITALY
48 White Plains UNITED STATES
49 Bangui CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
50 Paris FRANCE
51 Houston UNITED STATES
52 Manama BAHREIN
52 Dallas UNITED STATES
54 Vienna AUSTRIA
55 Seattle UNITED STATES
56 Yaundé CAMEROONS
57 Accra GHANA
58 Djibouti DJIBUTI
59 Saint Petersburg RUSSIA
60 Mumbai INDIA
60 Atlanta UNITED STATES
62 Morristown UNITED STATES
63 Shenyang CHINA
64 Amsterdam NETHERLANDS
65 Rome ITALY
66 Sydney AUSTRALIA
66 San Juan PORTO RICO
68 Abuja NIGERIA
69 Minneapolis UNITED STATES
70 Duala CAMEROONS
71 Amman JORDAN
72 Munich GERMANY
73 Port of Spain TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
74 Helsinki FINLAND
75 Dakar SENEGAL
76 Oslo NORWAY
76 Frankfurt GERMANY
78 Brussels BELGIUM
78 San Jose COSTA RICA
80 Detroit UNITED STATES
80 Manila PHILLIPINES
82 Berlin GERMANY
83 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
83 Saint Louis UNITED STATES
83 Yangon MYANMAR
86 Jakarta INDONESIA
87 Madrid SPAIN
88 Montevideo URUGUAY
89 Conakry GUINEA
90 Panama City PANAMA
91 Pittsburgh UNITED STATES
92 Portland UNITED STATES
93 Cleveland UNITED STATES
94 Vancouver CANADA
95 Nairobi KENYA
96 Muscat OMAN
97 Prague CZECH REPUBLIC
98 Toronto CANADA
99 Melbourne AUSTRALIA
100 Düsseldorf GERMANY

Source: Exame