The top five most expensive and top five least expensive cities, ranked by Mercer according to the comparative cost of items in each location.

1. 5most
expensive
5expensive
least
cities
for expats

2. The latest Mercer survey
covers 211 cities across five
continents and measures the
comparative cost of over 200
items in each location —
including housing,
transportation, food, clothing,
household goods and
entertainment. Here’s the
countdown to the most
expensive city for expatriates.

3. 5. Zurich, Switzerland Photo by: Russ Bowling/CC-BY

4. 4. Singapore
Photo by: William Cho/CC-BY

5. 3. Hong Kong
Photo by: Betta Design/CC-BY

6. 2. N’Djamena, Chad
Photo by: Ken Doerr/CC-BY

7. 1. Luanda, Angola
Photo by: Max Brotto/CC-BY

8. Currency fluctuations and
the impact of inflation on
goods and services have
influenced the cost of
expatriate programs as
well as the city rankings.
Here are the top five least
expensive cities for
expatriates.

9. 5. Managua, Nicaragua
Photo by: Pedro Pablo/CC-BY

10. 4. Islamabad, Pakistan
Photo by: Javed Nazir/CC-BY

11. 3. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Photo by: Zsoolt/CC-BY

12. 2. Windhoek, Namibia
Photo by: Zibiso/CC-BY

13. 1. Karachi, Pakistan
Photo by: Zasami/CC-BY