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Singapore is 4th most expensive city in the world for expats: Study

SINGAPORE — The Republic is the fourth expensive city in the world for expatriates for the fourth year running, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey by Mercer released on Wednesday (June 22).

SINGAPORE — The Republic is the fourth expensive city in the world for expatriates for the fourth year running, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey by Mercer released on Wednesday (June 22).

Hong Kong overtook Luanda in Angola to take the top spot. Hong Kong’s emergence as the most expensive city for expatriates was a consequence of the weakening of Angola’s local currency, according to Mercer in its press release.

Singapore has been ranked fourth on Mercer’s survey since 2013. In 2012, Singapore was sixth.

Meanwhile, Tokyo had also climbed by six places as the strengthening of the Japanese yen pushed Japanese cities up in the ranking, said Ms Constantin-Métral, Principal at Mercer. On the flip side, Chinese cities fell in the ranking due to the weakening of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar, she said.

The figures for Mercer’s cost of living and rental accommodation costs comparisons are derived from a survey conducted in March this year. Exchange rates from that time and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services from its Cost of Living survey have been used as base measurements.

There were five Asian countries in the top 10 of Mercer’s rankings — Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (4th), Tokyo (5th), Shanghai (7th) and Beijing (10th). Other cities on the list were Luanda (2nd), Zurich (3rd), Kinshasa in Congo (6th), Zurich (8th) and N’Djamena in Chad (9th).

The survey included more than 375 cities around the world. New York City was used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of more than 200 items in each location were used for comparison, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. RAYMOND MARK THAM

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