Singapore Remains Priciest City for Expats

Singapore has been listed as the world’s priciest city for the second year regarding the relocation costs for expatriate, Channel NewsAsia reported on Tuesday, citing a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The survey, which polls 133 cities around the world, compares the living costs ranging from food, clothing, transport to 160 different variables in U.S. dollars with New York as a base city.

“The purpose of a cost of living allowance is to reimburse employees for excess living costs resulting from a foreign assignment,” EIU said.

Singapore, together with South Korea’s Seoul, have been ranked as the most expensive place for clothes, which is over 50 percent higher than that of New York, the survey showed.

The city-state’s Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system, also push up its transport costs, which is almost three times higher than that of New York.

The top five cities are Singapore, Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney. Hong Kong has been ranked ninth, and Seoul at tenth. Japan’s Tokyo, surprisingly, has been put on the 11th place due to weak yen and low inflation, the survey said.

“As currencies strengthen and weaken against each other, the relative cost of living will change between cities — even where price levels remain constant,” said Mr Jon Copestake, Chief Retail & Consumer Goods Analyst and editor of the report.

Earlier in December last year, Singapore has been ranked as the 26th most expensive place for expats in a study by Employment Conditions Abroad (ECA) International, Channel NewsAsia reported. (PNA/Xinhua) LGI/EDS