New York has overtaken Hong Kong to become the world’s 20 most expensive cities to live in as an expatriate due to rising inflation and accommodation costs, said the ECA International’s Cost of Living Rankings for 2023.
Hong Kong, Geneva and London stand at the second, third and fourth places.
Singapore climbed from 13th place last year to enter the top five for the first time, breaking the general trend among Asian cities of coming down the rankings, partially due to lower rates of inflation compared to other regions.
The biggest mover of the year was Istanbul, which climbed 95 spots to 108th place, due to an 80 percent rise in prices driven by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies, said the report.
The survey also found that Dubai rents rose by almost one third on an influx of Russian expatriates, pushing the city up to 12th place. While most European cities rose in rankings, Norwegian and Swedish cities fell on weak currencies and French cities slipped on lower inflation rates in comparison to their EU peers. Chinese cities slipped in the rankings due to the impact of a weaker currency and lower inflation rates relative to other countries.
Rankings for all US cities became better due to the strong dollar and high inflation, with San Francisco making to the top 10.
