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Singapore ranks 13th most expensive city globally for expats: survey

Aerial view at Boat Quay waterfront in central Singapore where people can sit down and eat at local restaurants or just walk along the river.
Boat Quay in central Singapore. (PHOTO: Getty Creative)

SINGAPORE — Singapore has risen to become the world’s 13th most expensive city for expatriates on the back of a strong Singapore dollar, according to a survey by ECA International.

The city-state, which rose in the global rankings for a second consecutive year, is now ranked as the seventh most expensive city in Asia, above Seoul, Macau and Shanghai.

“Despite relatively low rates of low inflation and weakening global trade growth, Singapore has risen five places to be the 13th most expensive city in the world thanks to the continued strength of the Singapore dollar.” said Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director for Asia, in a statement on Wednesday (10 December).

Tokyo overtook Hong Kong to be the second most expensive city in Asia. The Japanese capital moved up six places to become world’s eighth most expensive city.

Other Japanese cities were also in the list with Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka ranking fourth, fifth and sixth in Asia respectively.

“Furthermore, we expect prices in Japan to increase further owing to the recent increase in consumption tax while next year’s Olympics in Tokyo are likely to have further inflationary effects. As such, we expect Tokyo to remain above Hong Kong into 2020,” Quane said.

Although Hong Kong dropped one place from a year ago to become the third most expensive location in Asia for expats to live in, it continues to be the sixth most expensive in the world.

Inflation remains high in Hong Kong relative to other cities despite the ongoing political unrest and the city’s economic recession, Quane said.

(Source: ECA International)
(Source: ECA International)

The most expensive city

Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, remains the most expensive city in the world and in Asia for expatriates for a second year running, the survey said.

The city’s ranking was due to high inflation and a black market currency rate far weaker than the official exchange rate, according to ECA.

Thai cities continue to be among the biggest risers. Among them, Bangkok surged 43 places and entered the top 50 most expensive locations for the first time at 47th place, due mainly to a strong Thai baht.

Many Chinese cities have fallen slightly in the rankings despite price rises that were linked to the impact of swine flu on meat prices. This was due to the yuan’s weakness against major currencies in the past year and that pork is less commonly consumed by expatriates.

Macau has bucked the trend in the greater China region, rising from 25 last year to 18, while Taipei remained unchanged at 31.

ECA’s twice-yearly surveys compare a basket of like-for-like consumer goods and services commonly purchased in over 480 locations worldwide.

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