This 2017 ranking is based on the latest survey conducted by Mercer. It is an analysis of the cost of living for an European expatriate.
The tables below present a ranking of cities, from the cheapest one to the most expensive, in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
Read also: The most expensive cities [4]
Africa
Regional ranking | Global ranking(1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Tunis | Tunisia |
2 | 4 | Windhoek | Namibia |
3 | 5 | Blantyre | Malawi |
4 | 11 | Cape Town | South Africa |
5 | 14 | Gaborone | Botswana |
6 | 18 | Banjul | Gambia |
7 | 19 | Johannesburg | South Africa |
8 | 21 | Nouakchott | Mauritania |
9 | 22 | Maputo | Mozambique |
10 | 23 | Algiers | Algeria |
11 | 24 | Kampala | Uganda |
12 | 26 | Cairo | Egypt |
13 | 39 | Port-Louis | Mauritius |
14 | 41 | Rabat | Morocco |
15 | 46 | Dar Es Salam | Tanzania |
16 | 52 | Niamey | Niger |
17 | 54 | Harare | Zimbabwe |
18 | 57 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
19 | 63 | Kigali | Rwanda |
20 | 66 | Lomé | Togo |
21 | 71 | Cotonou | Benin |
22 | 74 | Addis-Abeba | Ethiopia |
23 | 80 | Casablanca | Morocco |
24 | 84 | Bamako | Mali |
27 | 99 | Nairobi | Kenya |
28 | 116 | Douala | Cameroon |
29 | 117 | Dakar | Senegal |
30 | 119 | Conakry | Guinea Conakry |
31 | 126 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
32 | 140 | Yaoundé | Cameroon |
33 | 151 | Abuja | Nigeria |
34 | 156 | Accra | Ghana |
35 | 161 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
36 | 168 | Abidjan | Côte d’Ivoire |
37 | 178 | Libreville | Gabon |
38 | 180 | Brazzaville | DR Congo |
39 | 182 | Lagos | Nigeria |
40 | 195 | N’Djaména | Chad |
41 | 197 | Victoria | Seychelles |
42 | 209 | Luanda | Angola |
Near and Middle East *
Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 68 | Istanbul | Turkey |
2 | 93 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 99 | Kuwait | Kuwait |
4 | 118 | Muscat | Oman |
5 | 129 | Doha | Qatar |
6 | 151 | Amman | Jordan |
7 | 155 | Manama | Bahrain |
8 | 158 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
8 | 158 | Beirut | Lebanon |
9 | 188 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
10 | 191 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
Europe
Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Skopje | Republic of Macedonia |
2 | 6 | Tbilissi | Georgia |
3 | 8 | Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
4 | 10 | Minsk | Belarus |
5 | 12 | Belgrade | Serbia |
6 | 21 | Tirana | Albania |
7 | 26 | Sofia | Bulgaria |
8 | 29 | Bucarest | Roumania |
9 | 30 | Warsaw | Poland |
10 | 34 | Budapest | Hungary |
11 | 37 | Limassol | Cyprus |
12 | 38 | Leipzig | Germany |
13 | 40 | Belfast | Northern Ireland |
14 | 42 | Nuremberg | Germany |
15 | 43 | Vilnius | Lituania |
16 | 47 | Kiev | Ukraine |
17 | 49 | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
17 | 49 | Glasgow | Scotland / United Kingdom |
18 | 50 | Tallinn | Estonia |
19 | 51 | Zagreb | Croatia |
20 | 63 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
20 | 63 | Birmingham | England / United Kingdom |
21 | 64 | Aberdeen | Scotland / United Kingdom |
22 | 66 | Athens | Greece |
23 | 69 | Stuttgart | Germany |
24 | 73 | Lisbon | Portugal |
25 | 78 | Prague | Czech Republic |
26 | 84 | Riga | Lettonie |
27 | 88 | Düsseldorf | Germany |
28 | 89 | Barcelona | Spain |
29 | 90 | Berlin | Germany |
30 | 93 | Frankfurt | Germany |
31 | 99 | Madrid | Spain |
32 | 103 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
33 | 104 | Stockholm | Sweden |
34 | 106 | Brussels | Belgium |
35 | 112 | Munich | Germany |
36 | 122 | Helsinki | Finland |
37 | 125 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
38 | 130 | Rome | Italy |
39 | 132 | Vienna | Austria |
40 | 139 | Milan | Italy |
41 | 144 | Dublin | Ireland |
42 | 148 | Paris | France |
43 | 164 | Oslo | Norway |
44 | 175 | Saint Petersburg | Russia |
45 | 183 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
46 | 197 | Moscow | Russia |
47 | 200 | Bern | Switzerland |
48 | 203 | Geneva | Switzerland |
49 | 206 | Zurich | Switzerland |
Asia
Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Bichkek | Kirghizstan |
2 | 9 | Karachi | Pakistan |
3 | 15 | Erevan | Armenia |
4 | 26 | Calcutta | India |
5 | 28 | Baku | Azerbaijan |
6 | 35 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
7 | 37 | Islamabad | Pakistan |
8 | 44 | Bangalore | India |
9 | 45 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia |
10 | 75 | Chennai | India |
11 | 78 | Colombo | Sri Lanka |
12 | 87 | Tachkent | Uzbekistan |
13 | 95 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia |
14 | 110 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
14 | 110 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei |
15 | 111 | New Delhi | India |
16 | 113 | Ho-Chi-Minh-Town | Vietnam |
17 | 115 | Manila | Philippine |
18 | 122 | Jakarta | Indonesia |
19 | 143 | Yangon | Birmania |
19 | 143 | Bangkok | Thailand |
20 | 153 | Bombay | India |
20 | 153 | Achgabat | Turkmenistan |
21 | 164 | Chengdu | China |
22 | 165 | Qingdao | China |
23 | 168 | Shenyang | China |
24 | 173 | Dacca | Bengladesh |
24 | 173 | Tianjin | China |
25 | 176 | Nagoya | Japan |
26 | 178 | Nankin | China |
27 | 186 | Taipei | Taiwan |
28 | 190 | Osaka | Japan |
29 | 192 | Canton | China |
30 | 198 | Shenzhen | China |
31 | 199 | Beijing | China |
32 | 202 | Shanghai | China |
33 | 204 | Seoul | South Korea |
34 | 205 | Singapore | Singapore |
35 | 207 | Tokyo | Japon |
36 | 208 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
Americas*
Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Monterrey | Mexico |
2 | 13 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras |
3 | 16 | Managua | Nicaragua |
4 | 17 | La Paz | Bolivia |
5 | 32 | Asunción | Paraguay |
6 | 33 | Mexico | Mexico |
7 | 54 | San Salvador | El Salvador |
8 | 55 | Kingston | Jamaica |
9 | 57 | Bogota | Colombia |
10 | 58 | Ottawa | Canada |
11 | 59 | Havana | Cuba |
12 | 60 | Saint-Domingue | Dominican Republic |
13 | 67 | Calgary | Canada |
14 | 76 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti |
15 | 81 | Montreal | Canada |
16 | 84 | Brasilia | Brazil |
17 | 87 | Quito | Ecuador |
18 | 91 | Toronto | Canada |
19 | 95 | Portland | United States |
20 | 99 | Guatemala | Guatemala |
21 | 100 | San Jose | Costa Rica |
22 | 103 | Vancouver | Canada |
22 | 103 | Pittsburgh | United States |
23 | 106 | Lima | Perou |
24 | 110 | Saint-Louis | United States |
25 | 115 | Detroit | United States |
26 | 122 | Panama | Panama |
27 | 124 | Minneapolis | United States |
28 | 127 | Atlanta | United States |
29 | 129 | Morristown | United States |
30 | 134 | Seattle | United States |
31 | 135 | Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago |
32 | 136 | Houston | United States |
33 | 143 | Santiago | Chile |
34 | 145 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
35 | 146 | White Plains | United States |
36 | 148 | Dallas | United States |
37 | 154 | Rio De Janeiro | Brazil |
38 | 159 | Boston | United States |
39 | 169 | Miami | United States |
40 | 175 | Honolulu | United States |
41 | 179 | Chicago | United States |
42 | 187 | Los Angeles | United States |
43 | 189 | San Francisco | United States |
44 | 201 | New York | United States |
Oceania
Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 124 | Wellington | New Zealand |
2 | 133 | Adelaide | Australia |
3 | 139 | Canberra | Australia |
3 | 139 | Brisbane | Australia |
4 | 149 | Auckland | New Zeland |
5 | 160 | Perth | Australia |
6 | 164 | Melbourne | Australia |
7 | 186 | Sydney | Australia |