Moscow remains the most expensive city in the world for expatriate staff, a survey released yesterday by British human resources firm Mercer HR said.
But the study saw London leap three places from fifth to second in the last 12 months, with Seoul in third, followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong. The cheapest city was Paraguay's Asuncion for the fifth year running.
The findings use the US' most expensive city, New York, as a benchmark and compare the cost in 143 cities of more than 200 items, such as housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Moscow was 34.4 percent more expensive, up just under 11 percent on last year. Mercer said the rise was due to the appreciation of the ruble against the US dollar which with soaring rents had driven up the cost for expats.
London saw an even bigger leap -- just under 16 percent -- making it now 26.3 percent more expensive than the US city with which it is often compared because of rent hikes, a strong pound and weak US dollar.
Seoul was 22.4 percent more expensive, Tokyo 22.1 percent and Hong Kong 19.4 percent.
European cities featured prominently in the top 10: Copenhagen was the sixth most expensive at plus 10.2 percent, Geneva seventh at plus 9.8 percent, Zurich ninth at plus 7.6 percent and Oslo 10th at plus 5.8 percent.
The Japanese city of Osaka was eighth at plus 8.4 percent.
Others more expensive than New York were Milan (11th at plus 4.4 percent); Saint Petersburg (12th at plus 3 percent); Paris (13th at plus 1.4 percent) and Singapore (14th at plus 0.4 percent).
This year's list showed significant changes in rankings, particularly in Europe due to a stronger euro and weak US dollar, Mercer said.
In turn, US cities and those in countries where the currency is pegged to the dollar, fell down the list.
The least expensive city in Europe for expats is Sofia in Bulgaria.
Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro are the most expensive cities in South America.
Chinese cities moved down the ranking. Beijing was 20th (4.1 percent less expensive than New York), Shanghai 26th (minus 7.9 percent).
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from