BY SACHIN KUMAR
DOHA: The capital city of Qatar has become costlier for expats due to rise in the cost of goods and services.
Doha has risen four notches to 158th rank in Mercer’s 2014 Cost of Living Survey, from 162nd in the last year’s survey. Mercer’s, a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement, and investments, compared the cost of living for expats in 211 cities worldwide.
The survey measures the comparative cost of more than 200 goods and services in each city, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.
Compared to other GCC capitals, Doha has fared well. Dubai has toppled Abu Dhabi to emerge as the most expensive city in the GCC for expats. It ranked 67 in the survey, up 23 spots compared to its 90th position last year, while Abu Dhabi ranked 68 this year, up 11 positions from 79 in 2013.
Riyadh ranked 111 in 2014 from 122 in the previous survey and Muscat ranked 168 this year, up from 170. Kuwait city became a little cheaper, with its ranking falling to 147 from 141 last year.
Although not typically recognised as wealthy cities compared to others, Luanda in Angola is the world’s most expensive for the second year in a row followed by N’Djamena, Chad.
European and Asian cities continue to dominate as the costliest cities with Hong Kong in third place, followed by Singapore.
Zurich jumped three places to fifth, followed by Geneva in sixth. Tokyo dropped four spots to rank seventh. Karachi, ranked 211, is the world’s least expensive city for expats, and the survey found that Luanda is more than three times as costly as Karachi.
“Rankings in many regions were affected by recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, which resulted in currency fluctuations, inflation for goods and services, and volatility in accommodation prices,” said Ed Hannibal, Partner and Global Leader for Mercer’s Mobility practice.
“While Luanda and N’Djamena are relatively inexpensive cities, they are costly for expats since imported goods come at a premium.
“Finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expats can be challenging and quite costly. This is generally why some African cities rank high in our survey,” said Ed Hannibal.
Other cities in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expats are Bern, Moscow, and Shanghai. Currency fluctuations and the impact of inflation on goods and services have influenced the cost of expat programmes as well as the city rankings, said the survey.
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