welcome to brighter Mercer 2020 Cost of Living Ranking Mercer’s 26th annual Cost of Living Survey finds that factors such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability of accommodation prices, are essential to determining the cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments. Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 1 1 Hong Kong Hong Kong (SAR) 7 2 Ashgabat Turkmenistan 2 3 Tokyo Japan 5 4 Zurich Switzerland 3 5 Singapore Singapore 9 6 New York City United States 6 7 Shanghai China 12 8 Bern Switzerland 13 9 Geneva Switzerland 8 10 Beijing China 4 11 Seoul South Korea 15 12 Tel Aviv Israel 10 13 Shenzhen China 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 1 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 14 14 Victoria Seychelles 11 15 N’Djamena Chad 16 16 San Francisco United States 18 17 Los Angeles United States 25 18 Lagos Nigeria 23 19 London United Kingdom 17 20 Guangzhou China 27 21 Moscow Russia 19 22 Osaka Japan 21 23 Dubai United Arab Emirates 22 24 Kinshasa Dem. Rep. of the Congo 20 25 Copenhagen Denmark 47 26 Dhaka Bangladesh 33 26 Nagoya Japan 38 28 Honolulu United States 35 28 Taipei Taiwan 37 30 Chicago United States 35 31 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 42 32 Washington United States 24 33 Libreville Gabon 27 34 Nanjing China 40 35 Bangkok Thailand 30 36 Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire 44 37 Miami United States 32 38 Tianjin China 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 2 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 33 39 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 30 40 Chengdu China 49 41 Boston United States 29 42 Noumea New Caledonia 41 43 Qingdao China 39 44 Brazzaville Congo 53 45 Beirut Lebanon 43 46 Dublin Ireland 45 47 Milan Italy 56 48 White Plains United States 54 49 Bangui Central African Republic 47 50 Paris France 59 51 Houston United States 62 52 Dallas United States 57 52 Manama Bahrain 51 54 Vienna Austria 64 55 Seattle United States 52 56 Yaounde Cameroon 63 57 Accra Ghana 59 58 Djibouti Djibouti 75 59 St. Petersburg Russia 69 60 Atlanta United States 67 60 Mumbai India 70 62 Morristown United States 45 63 Shenyang China 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 3 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 58 64 Amsterdam Netherlands 55 65 Rome Italy 72 66 San Juan Puerto Rico 50 66 Sydney Australia 85 68 Abuja Nigeria 78 69 Minneapolis United States 66 70 Douala Cameroon 75 71 Amman Jordan 67 72 Munich Germany 83 73 Port of Spain Trinidad & Tobago 65 74 Helsinki Finland 72 75 Dakar Senegal 74 76 Frankfurt Germany 61 76 Oslo Norway 131 78 San Jose Costa Rica 77 78 Brussels Belgium 109 80 Manila Philippines 90 80 Detroit United States 81 82 Berlin Germany 117 83 Yangon Myanmar 94 83 St. Louis United States 84 83 Luxembourg Luxembourg 105 86 Jakarta Indonesia 82 87 Madrid Spain 70 88 Montevideo Uruguay 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 4 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 88 89 Conakry Guinea 93 90 Panama City Panama 97 91 Pittsburgh United States 107 92 Portland United States 106 93 Cleveland United States 112 94 Vancouver Canada 97 95 Nairobi Kenya 103 96 Muscat Oman 97 97 Prague Czech Republic 115 98 Toronto Canada 79 99 Melbourne Australia 92 100 Dusseldorf Germany 118 101 New Delhi India 91 102 Barcelona Spain 89 103 Auckland New Zealand 100 104 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 87 104 Perth Australia 150 106 Kiev Ukraine 100 106 Hamburg Germany 95 106 Lisbon Portugal 115 109 Doha Qatar 108 109 Phnom Penh Cambodia 120 111 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 121 112 Lima Peru 119 113 Kuwait City Kuwait 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 5 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 111 113 Riga Latvia 26 115 Luanda Angola 149 116 Niamey Niger 112 116 Hanoi Vietnam 102 118 Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei 96 118 Canberra Australia 144 120 Mexico City Mexico 128 121 Casablanca Morocco 136 122 Guatemala City Guatemala 133 123 Havana Cuba 123 123 Lyon France 114 123 Wellington New Zealand 166 126 Cairo Egypt 109 126 Adelaide Australia 103 126 Brisbane Australia 135 129 Birmingham United Kingdom 126 130 Stuttgart Germany 86 130 Sao Paulo Brazil 138 132 Winston Salem United States 127 133 Stockholm Sweden 137 134 Aberdeen United Kingdom 125 134 Pointe a Pitre Guadeloupe 79 134 Santiago Chile 139 137 Montreal Canada 128 138 Athens Greece 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 6 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 131 139 Bratislava Slovakia 128 140 Cotonou Benin 145 141 Glasgow United Kingdom 124 142 Bamako Mali 154 143 Chennai India 141 144 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 148 145 Quito Ecuador 153 146 Calgary Canada 140 146 Tallinn Estonia 142 148 Ljubljana Slovenia 158 149 Belfast United Kingdom 157 150 Kingston Jamaica 161 151 Ottawa Canada 143 152 Zagreb Croatia 133 153 Buenos Aires Argentina 145 154 Lome Togo 151 155 Nuremberg Germany 154 156 Istanbul Turkey 152 157 Vilnius Lithuania 156 158 Leipzig Germany 160 159 Rabat Morocco 121 160 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 159 161 Maputo Mozambique 145 162 Ouagadougou Burkina Faso 171 163 Dar es Salaam Tanzania 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 7 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 166 163 Tirana Albania 188 165 Harare Zimbabwe 161 166 Limassol Cyprus 169 167 Santo Domingo Dominican Republic 166 168 San Salvador El Salvador 173 169 Warsaw Poland 164 170 Budapest Hungary 179 171 Bengaluru India 178 172 Baku Azerbaijan 161 173 Port Louis Mauritius 176 174 Bucharest Romania 165 175 Port au Prince Haiti 175 176 Kigali Rwanda 187 177 Monterrey Mexico 183 177 Kampala Uganda 182 177 Colombo Sri Lanka 177 180 Sofia Bulgaria 170 181 Bogota Colombia 171 182 Addis Ababa Ethiopia 181 183 Belgrade Serbia 192 184 Nouakchott Mauritania 193 185 Blantyre Malawi 189 185 Kolkata India 180 187 Cape Town South Africa 186 188 Asuncion Paraguay 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 8 Rank 2019 Rank 2020 City Country/Region 191 189 Almaty Kazakhstan 174 190 Brasilia Brazil 197 191 Yerevan Armenia 185 192 Johannesburg South Africa 195 193 La Paz Bolivia 198 194 Minsk Belarus 184 194 Algiers Algeria 199 196 Tegucigalpa Honduras 194 197 Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina 200 198 Managua Nicaragua 189 199 Gaborone Botswana 203 200 Islamabad Pakistan 196 201 Lusaka Zambia 201 202 Skopje North Macedonia 202 203 Tbilisi Georgia 204 204 Banjul Gambia 207 205 Karachi Pakistan 208 206 Tashkent Uzbekistan 206 206 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan 204 208 Windhoek Namibia 209 209 Tunis Tunisia 2020 Cost of Living Ranking 9