Tel Aviv rises to 18th most expensive city

Tel Aviv seafront
Tel Aviv seafront

Tel Aviv jumped from 32nd place in Mercer’s annual cost-of-living survey.

Tel Aviv is the world's 18th most expensive city for foreign visitors, according to Mercer’s annual cost-of-living survey for expatriate employees. Tel Aviv is up dramatically from last year, when it placed 32 in the rankings. Tel Aviv is has the highest cost of living for expats among Middle East cities, followed by Beirut (63 in the general rankings), Dubai (67), and Abu Dhabi (68). The Middle Eastern city with the lowest cost of living is Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia (175).

The rankings further show that Angolan capital Luanda is the city with the highest cost of living for foreigners among the 221 cities ranked. N’Djamena, capital of Chad, placed second.

According to survey researcher Ed Hannibal, the two African cites have high costs of living because of the high cost of importing goods to them. “Finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly as well,” he says.

Hong Kong is in third place, Singapore is in fourth, and Zurich is fifth. Geneva is in sixth place, followed by Tokyo, which dropped to seventh place from last year, when it came in third.

US research company Mercer said that the rankings examined housing prices, transport, food, home maintenance, and entertainment. All the cities were compared to New York, and the US dollar.

“Rankings in many regions were affected by recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, which resulted in currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and volatility in accommodation prices,” said Hannibal.

Another Mercer representative added that many cities dropped in the rankings due to sharp drops in housing process and local demand, alongside strong local currencies. Such cities include Dhaka, Nairobi, and Dubai, which dropped in the rankings to 37, 30, and 23 respectively.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 10, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

Tel Aviv seafront
Tel Aviv seafront
Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters âìåáñ Israel Business Conference 2018