Hong Kong has been named as the most expensive location in the world for expatriates, according to the latest Cost of Living research published by ECA International.
"Hong Kong is the most expensive place in the world for overseas workers to live, in spite of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," Regional Director – Asia at ECA International Lee Quane said.
"Hong Kong is expensive across many areas that we consider as part of our research, but it is the especially high housing costs that push it to the number one spot. This is despite seeing some lower prices in the last year in response to a drop in demand due to the pandemic and ongoing political uncertainty," he added.
Tokyo (2nd), New York (3rd) and Geneva (4th) each also retained their overall ranking in a top four unchanged from 2019.
Zurich (5th) and London (6th) both jumped up the list this year as a rebounding euro and sterling pushed up living costs for overseas professionals. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv, Israel (7th), Seoul, South Korea (8th), San Francisco (9th) and Yokohama, Japan all recorded stationary or falling living costs over the year.
