Globally, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, replacing Luanda in Angola to second spot. Zurich and Singapore remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, which Tokyo comes fifth, up six places from last year.
Mumbai remains the most expensive city in the country despite improving its global ranking over the last year, a latest survey by human resource consultancy firm Mercer said. The city is ranked more expensive than even Seattle (83), Frankfurt (88), Canberra (98), Berlin (100) and Istanbul (101).
On the other hand, New Delhi (130) and Chennai (158), Kolkata (194) and Bangalore (180) have been counted among the least expensive Indian cities.
Globally, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, replacing Luanda in Angola to second spot. Zurich and Singapore remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, which Tokyo comes fifth, up six places from last year.
“Despite volatile global markets and growing security issues, organisations continue to leverage global expansion strategies to remain competitive and to grow. With a large number of Indian multinational organisations progressively expanding their footprint abroad, 70% of them are expecting expatriate assignments to increase over the next two years to address business needs as well as build careers and leadership development,” said
Ruchika Pal, India practice leader, global mobility at Mercer.
According to the Mercer, the survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees.
New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons, and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The global survey measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.
The survey also highlights the strength of the US dollar against other major currencies, in addition to significant drop of cities in other regions has resulted in US cities being pushed up the list.
“This has a direct impact on the cost of expatriate assignments for Indian multinationals.” reads the report. New York is up five places to 11, the highest-ranked city in the region. San Francisco (26) and Los Angeles (27) climbed eleven and nine places, respectively, from last year while Seattle (83) jumped 23 places.
"Higher rank of Indian cities, in general, in recent years could be due to demand factors. Relative scale of movements of expatriates to India has been high in recent years. It might have stagnated for some cities in west after the financial crisis, said Anita Rath,Professor
School of Development Studies, TISS. "It is worth noticing that as per the data released by Labour Bureau, cost of living for industrial workers in other cities, even small ones, have been similar or higher in comparison to Mumbai. The city offers a space for existence to all- the challenge is to bridge the gap," she said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Money")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}