Taipei City ranks 12th in Asia and 85th worldwide in terms of cost of living, according to the 2010 Location Ratings Survey released by ECA International Corp. June 14.
Taipei fell one spot in Asia from No. 11 in 2009, and nine places globally from No. 76 in the rating by ECA, which specializes in providing data related to the international assignment of employees. Taiwan’s second largest city, Kaohsiung, moved up three places to No. 15 in Asia, although it dropped from No. 109 to No. 122 in the world.
Lee Quane, ECA regional director (Asia), said, “Despite moving one place downward on the Asia list, Taipei’s ranking is still ahead of major industrial cities in mainland China, such as Shenzhen (No. 14 in Asia). Coupled with a bullish New Taiwan dollar, international companies will be daunted by the relatively high living costs in Taipei, influencing its competitiveness with Chinese cities.”
Living costs on the mainland remain relatively low due to fixed exchange rates between the Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar, helping to attract foreign investors to locate there.
Shanghai and Beijing are the two exceptions in mainland China, both ranking higher than Taipei in 2010, at No. 7 and 8 in Asia and 46th and 55th in the world, respectively.
Currency also makes Hong Kong the most expensive city in the greater Chinese region (6th in Asia), although it dropped four places to No. 34 in 2010 globally. Its competitiveness is also expected to be impacted by high living costs, along with a potential inflation crisis.
Tokyo is listed as the most expensive city in Asia and the world, because of the strong Japanese currency.
“We can infer from the above figures that currency is the greatest factor affecting the cost of living in a city,” Guane said.
Guane noted politics also influence the rankings. He predicted the recent turbulence in Bangkok will cause living costs to rise in the near future, for instance.
Rounding out the top ten most expensive locations in Asia were Japan’s Nagoya (2nd), Yokohama (3rd) and Kobe (4th), South Korea’s Seoul (5th) and Busan (10th) and Singapore (9th). Mainland China’s Guangzhou was one place behind Taipei at 13th. (THN)