Kyiv was ranked 106th in Mercer’s 26th annual ranking of the most expensive cities for expatriates. In 2020, the Ukrainian capital moved up 44 positions compared to last year, sharing 106th position with Hamburg and Lisbon.
Thus, Kyiv became the second city, where the cost of living for expatriates has increased significantly over the year. San Jose made the highest leap, moving up from 131st to 78th position.
Ranking Methodology
The Mercer ranking was compiled based on data about the cost of goods and services collected in March 2020. Besides, the analysts also took into account currency fluctuations and inflation. In total, the ranking includes 209 cities, and more than 400 cities around the world participated in the survey.
The most expensive cities
Hong Kong tops the list as the world’s costliest city for the second consecutive year. Together with it, the top ten of the ranking includes:
- Hong Kong
- Ashkhabad
- Tokyo
- Zurich
- Singapore
- New York
- Shanghai
- Bern
- Geneva
- Beijing
The cheapest cities
According to the ranking, the cheapest cities in the world for emigrants are:
- Tunis
- Windhoek
- Tashkent and Bishkek, which shared the 206th place
- Karachi
- Banjul
- Tbilisi
The drop in the ranking was made by Luanda (from 26th position to 115th), Santiago (from 79 to 134), Rio de Janeiro (from 121 to 160), Buenos Aires (from 133 to 153).
The Mercer study is one of the most extensive in the world and is designed to help multinational corporations and governments develop compensation strategies for their expatriates.
