Taipei City is the 26th most expensive city in Asia and 89th in the world for expatriate living expenses, human resources company ECA International announced June 10.
Tokyo headed the Asia list of the latest biennial survey by ECA. Its global ranking is 11th, the first time the Japanese capital has dropped out of the top 10.
No. 2 in Asia and 16th in the world in the survey was South Korean capital Seoul, with Shanghai and Beijing placed third and fourth, respectively, in Asia and 18th and 20th globally. Rounding out the Asian top 5 was Japan’s Nagoya, which ranked 23rd in the world.
Taipei fell 11 places in the global list due to exchange rate influences, ECA said. The New Taiwan dollar has depreciated against the pound and Euro, making the city more competitive as a location for the Asian headquarters of multinational firms.
“For European companies, their costs for Taiwan-based staff have fallen, providing they are not paying them in NT dollars,” ECA’s Asia Regional Director Lee Quane said. “This has boosted Taiwan’s appeal.”
Mainland Chinese cities have seen a rapid rise up the rankings in recent years. According to ECA Shanghai and Beijing were not even in the global top 50 five years ago, now even Guangzhou, 34th, and Shenzhen, 47th, had leaped ahead of Taipei in the world ranking.
Top of ECA’s global table was Caracas, Venezuela, with Norway’s Oslo second and Luanda, Angola in third.
ECA’s expatriate cost of living survey is based on typical goods, services and daily living expenses. It does not include such items as housing, utilities, vehicles and schooling, which are calculated separately. The firm’s global survey covers more than 440 cities, and the current survey was conducted in March and April this year. (SDH)
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