Taipei has jumped one notch to become the 11th-most expensive city in Asia and has moved up 21 places in the global rankings, according to the latest survey on living costs.
In this year’s Cost of Living Survey conducted by ECA International, a British manpower resource distribution solution supplier, Taipei’s global ranking was 66th, compared with 87th last year.
Kaohsiung jumped from 114th to 97th in the global rankings and moved up one place to the 14th-most expensive city in Asia.
Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director based in Hong Kong, attributed the cities’ higher rankings to the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar over the past year.
The currency’s value against the US dollar has increased by about 10 percent and as a result, the cost to overseas companies sending their employees to work in Taiwan has grown notably, he said.
According to ECA, goods and services in Taipei were almost 10 percent cheaper than in Shanghai, China, last year, but the gap has shrunk to 4 percent this year.
In the survey, Shanghai was ranked the ninth-most expensive city in Asia and the 47th in the world, while Beijing was eighth in Asia and 46th globally.
Hong Kong’s ranking fell one place to seventh in Asia and it also dropped globally, from 33rd to 45th.
Despite a long period of inflation, a weakening Hong Kong dollar offset that problem, Quane said.
ECA International’s cost of living indices are calculated based on surveys carried out annually in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services, such as food, clothing and electrical goods.
Certain living costs, such as accommodation, utilities, automobile purchases and school fees, are not included in the survey because they can make a significant difference to expenses and are usually covered by the firms themselves.
This year’s report showed that Tokyo remained the most expensive city both in Asia and globally for international residents.
Although Japan was the only Asian country in which the actual cost of goods in the ECA basket had fallen, a strong currency and the already high cost of goods meant the cost of living was significantly higher than other locations listed in the top 10, ECA said.
Singapore rose from ninth to sixth in Asia and from 68th to 36th globally, recording the largest jump among Asian cities.
The top five cities in the Asian rankings were Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe in Japan, and Seoul in South Korea.
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