S’pore 2nd-most expensive Asia city for expatriates

[SINGAPORE] The Republic has moved up two spots to become the fifth-most expensive city in the world for expatriates, and the second-most pricey location in Asia.

The city-state’s high cost of living is due to its strong currency and expensive rental market, according to findings from Mercer’s 2013 Cost of Living Survey.

Using New York as the base city, the research ranks 214 cities around the world based on the comparative cost of over 200 items – including housing, transportation, food, clothing, and entertainment.

Mercer has only shared the rankings for the 10 costliest cities.

Because the cost of expatriate housing is typically the biggest expense for employers, Mercer said it “plays an important part” in determining the rankings, accounting for almost a quarter of the overall cost of living basket.

“To maintain the cost- competitiveness, the government of Singapore has been proactively making efforts to increase the supply to ease price inflation in the housing market,” Phil Stanley, Mercer Asia Pacific global mobility leader, told BT.

While Mercer said these measures “have been effective as evidenced by stable rental rates”, Singapore’s pricey rental market nonetheless contributed to the city-state’s high ranking.

Renting a three-bedroom unfurnished house in Singapore – one that meets the standards of expatriates – costs US$7,266.91 per month, while a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment costs US$3,794.94 per month.

Despite Singapore’s high cost of living for expatriates, Mr Stanley told BT that the country “continues to attract expatriate talent for the quality of life the city-state offers”.

Tokyo slipped two places and is now the third- most expensive city in the world for expatriates, but remains the costliest city in Asia. Hong Kong ranks as the sixth-most expensive city internationally, one place below Singapore.

Luanda in Angola now stands as the priciest city worldwide, due to the high cost of imported goods, and the challenge in finding secure housing there.

“Given the increasing numbers of business travellers, global commuters, and longer-term expatriates, companies are keeping a close eye on the cost of living for international assignees in different cities around the world,” said Barb Marder, senior partner and Mercer’s global mobility practice Leader.

“Organisations need to evaluate the impact of currency fluctuations, inflation, and political instability when sending employees on overseas assignments, while ensuring they can facilitate the moves they need to drive the business results by offering fair and competitive compensation packages.”

Source: STPROPERTY

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