New Delhi has emerged as the most expensive city for expatriates in terms of cost of living, according to a survey by global HR consultancy Mercer said.
However, the cost of living in Indian cities still happens to be cheaper than 84 cities in other parts of the world, the ’2010 Cost of Living Survey’, which covers 214 such locations across five continents, stated.
Angola’s Luanda topped global rankings as the most expensive city to live in. It was followed by Japan’s Tokyo (second), Ndjamena in Chad (third), Russia’s capital Moscow (fourth) and Geneva in Switzerland (fifth).
Indian cities figure somewhere in the middle of the list as the cost of living in the country is on the rise due to escalating property prices and a steadily improving economic climate.
“New Delhi (85) is India’s most expensive city, followed by Mumbai (89) and Bangalore (190) with Chennai and Kolkata ranked 195th and 207th on the global list, respectively.
New York was used as the base city for the index, and all the cities were compared against it. Currency movements were measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing, often the biggest expense for expats, plays an important role in determining the ranking of cities, the report added. Pakistan’s Islamabad (212) and Karachi (214), and Nicaragua’s Managua (213) were ranked at the bottom — as the least expensive cities in the world.
