Living abroad is a dream for many of us – a chance to not only escape the dubious British weather, but to immerse ourselves in a completely different culture.
But before you pack your bags and wave goodbye to Britain, bear in mind the results of research to find the most expensive city for expatriates.
The world is getting smaller and smaller, with many more people now going to live and work abroad for a year or two. If this is part of your life plan, be sure to save your pennies if you want to go to Tokyo.
Research by consultancy firm Mercer has found that the capital of Japan is the world’s most expensive in terms of the cost of living for expats.
The research analysed the day-to-day living costs faced by visitors from the US to work out the most expensive cities for foreigners.
Tokyo leapfrogged Luanda, the capital of Angola, to take first place in the poll. Another Japanese city, Osaka, climbed three places from last year’s results to take sixth place.
A number of other Asian cities featured in the top ten, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Nagoya all making an appearance.
The only European cities to feature in the top ten were Moscow and the Swiss cities of Geneva and Zurich. London dropped seven places form last year to round off the top 25.
“Despite some marked price increases across the region in the first half of last year and widespread increases in VAT charges, most European cities dropped in the ranking,” said Mercer’s Nathalie Constantin-Métral.
“This is mainly due to the unstable economic situation across Europe, which has led to the depreciation of most local currencies against the US dollar.”
Cities that proved cheaper for expats include Vienna, which ranked 48th, Stockholm at 46th and even Milan, which was ranked 38th.
(Images: batardy_sebastien, JKT-c, Yann)
