KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s capital city is among the cheapest cities to live in for expatriates, while Hong Kong tops Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living City Ranking, and Singapore is at the eighth spot.
The ranking, which is in its third year, places Kuala Lumpur in the 181st spot among 227 cities surveyed.
Switzerland cities Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern come right after Hong Kong as Turkiye’s Ankara closes the ranking at the 227th spot.
The survey also took into account housing affordability, safety, sanitation, eco-friendliness or education standards, as well as governance and taxation considerations.
As for Kuala Lumpur, it is placed in the bottom half when taking into account ecofriendliness factors.
According to United States consulting firm Mercer, the survey provides employers with data to help them navigate compensation packages for their mobile employees in the unpredictable global markets.
It also took into account the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russian-Ukraine conflict, rising inflation, and currency volatility – factors that are affecting international economic balances and the cost of living.
Also, in the top 10 are Tel Aviv (6) in Israel, New York City (7), Tokyo (9) in Japan, and Beijing (10), China.
Kyodo News reported that Tokyo’s drop from the third spot last year to the ninth this year was partly due to the weakening of the yen against the US dollar.
Also, the strong yuan has made major cities in China pricier to live in as compared to South Korea whose currency is relatively weaker.
Last year, Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat took the top spot in the survey. – The Vibes, July 18, 2022
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