Asia dominated the world’s most expensive city rankings, with Hong Kong SAR taking top spot as the costliest place for employees working abroad, in Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living survey. Four of the cities in the top 10 are located in Asia, including Hong Kong SAR, Singapore (8th), Tokyo (9th) and Beijing (10th).
Switzerland has a significant presence in the list with four of its cities (Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern) taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th places respectively.
This year, Mercer changed its evaluation methodology for cost of living, now taking into account new items including smartwatches, tablet computers, and smartphones. This makes the list more relevant, more so after deleting other possible costs which are no longer in the picture such as music CDs and movie rentals.
Tracey Ma, Regional Mobility Leader, Asia Pacific, said, “Despite the relatively lower inflation in Asia compared to the rest of the world, high prices and strong currencies with the exception of Japan and Korea, continue to propel Asia as one of the most expensive regions for international employees.
Bangkok is the second most expensive city in Southeast Asia due to rising prices and strength of the Thai baht. As for other cities within the region, their ranking is as follows:
– Bangkok, Thailand (106)
– Manila, Philippines (122)
– Phnom Penh, Cambodia (134)
– Hanoi, Vietnam (150)
– Jakarta, Indonesia (151)
– Vientiane, Cambodia (157)
– Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (179)
– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (181)
– Yangon, Myanmar (198)
Employed in China
“In the past months, the strength of the Chinese Yuan has also made Mainland China pricier to live in. Six of the main cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qingdao and Nanjing – are among the top 10 most expensive cities in Asia. In contrast, Japanese and Korean cities have become relatively more affordable due to a weaker Japanese yen and Korean won.”
In addition to cost of living data, mobility research conducted by Mercer and the learnings from Mercer’s work with clients reflects that the impact of COVID-19, the crisis in Ukraine, exchange rate variations and widespread inflation are having a material impact employees’ pay and savings. This can have serious consequences for employers in the global battle for talent.
Considering All Costs
Ms Ma said, “International assignment patterns are evolving faster than before. With the rise of remote and flexible work, companies need to rethink their approach to managing a globally distributed workforce with an optimized mobility program which aligns with the business strategic planning and achieve both cost efficiency, compliance and talent attraction. More companies are adopting the local-plus compensation approach to pay their foreign employees and increasingly, mobility programs are utilized as tools for companies to develop their high potential talent, rather than support mechanisms to make up for talent shortages in certain areas within the organization.”
