Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, annually publishes a ranking of the most expensive cities according to the costs of living for an expatriate, while taking into account transportation, housing, and food expenses.
More than 200 major cities have been reviewed to establish the 2021 ranking.
Based on Mercer's 27th international survey, Atlas Magazine has established a ranking of the most expensive cities by continent and region: Africa, Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
Africa: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 15 | 13 | 1 | N’Djamena | Chad |
| 18 | 19 | 2 | Lagos | Nigeria |
| 33 | 20 | 3 | Libreville | Gabon |
| 36 | 24 | 4 | Abidjan | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 49 | 30 | 5 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
| 44 | 38 | 6 | Brazzaville | Congo |
| 24 | 41 | 7 | Kinshasa | Dem. Rep. Of The Congo |
| 56 | 49 | 8 | Yaoundé | Cameroon |
| 75 | 56 | 9 | Dakar | Senegal |
| 70 | 66 | 10 | Douala | Cameroon |
| 58 | 82 | 11 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
| 68 | 85 | 12 | Abuja | Nigeria |
| 57 | 87 | 13 | Accra | Ghana |
| 116 | 99 | 14 | Niamey | Niger |
| 140 | 113 | 15 | Cotonou | Benin |
| 121 | 114 | 16 | Casablanca | Morocco |
| 89 | 119 | 17 | Conakry | Guinea Republic |
| 115 | 123 | 18 | Luanda | Angola |
| 142 | 126 | 19 | Bamako | Mali |
| 154 | 136 | 20 | Lome | Togo |
Middle East: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 45 | 3 | 1 | Beirut | Lebanon |
| 12 | 15 | 2 | Tel Aviv | Israel |
| 31 | 29 | 3 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
| 23 | 42 | 4 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
| 39 | 56 | 5 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
| 52 | 71 | 6 | Manama | Bahrain |
| 71 | 94 | 7 | Amman | Jordan |
| 104 | 94 | 8 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
| 96 | 108 | 9 | Muscat | Oman |
| 113 | 115 | 10 | Kuwait City | Kuwait |
Europe: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 4 | 5 | 1 | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 9 | 8 | 2 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| 8 | 10 | 3 | Bern | Switzerland |
| 25 | 16 | 4 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 19 | 18 | 5 | London | United Kingdom |
| 50 | 33 | 6 | Paris | France |
| 47 | 36 | 7 | Milan | Italy |
| 54 | 37 | 8 | Vienna | Austria |
| 46 | 39 | 9 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 64 | 44 | 10 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 65 | 47 | 11 | Rome | Italy |
| 72 | 52 | 12 | Munich | Germany |
| 78 | 53 | 13 | Brussels | Belgium |
| 76 | 54 | 14 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 76 | 55 | 15 | Oslo | Norway |
| 74 | 56 | 16 | Helsinki | Finland |
| 82 | 60 | 17 | Berlin | Germany |
| 21 | 62 | 18 | Moscow | Russia |
| 83 | 63 | 19 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 87 | 67 | 20 | Madrid | Spain |
Asia: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong (SAR) |
| 3 | 4 | 3 | Tokyo | Japan |
| 7 | 6 | 4 | Shanghai | China |
| 5 | 7 | 5 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 10 | 9 | 6 | Beijing | China |
| 11 | 11 | 7 | Seoul | South Korea |
| 13 | 12 | 8 | Shenzhen | China |
| 20 | 17 | 9 | Guangzhou | China |
| 28 | 22 | 10 | Taipei | Taiwan |
| 22 | 23 | 11 | Osaka | Japan |
| 38 | 26 | 12 | Tianjin | China |
| 34 | 27 | 13 | Nanjing | China |
| 40 | 28 | 14 | Chengdu | China |
| 43 | 34 | 15 | Qingdao | China |
| 26 | 34 | 16 | Nagoya | Japan |
| 26 | 40 | 17 | Dhaka | Bangladesh |
| 35 | 46 | 18 | Bangkok | Thailand |
| 63 | 61 | 19 | Shenyang | China |
| 60 | 78 | 20 | Mumbai | India |
Americas*: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 6 | 14 | 1 | New York City | United States |
| 17 | 21 | 2 | Los Angeles | United States |
| 16 | 25 | 3 | San Francisco | United States |
| 28 | 43 | 4 | Honolulu | United States |
| 30 | 45 | 5 | Chicago | United States |
| 37 | 48 | 6 | Miami | United States |
| 41 | 50 | 7 | Boston | United States |
| 32 | 51 | 8 | Washington | United States |
| 48 | 65 | 9 | White Plains | United States |
| 55 | 67 | 10 | Seattle | United States |
| 52 | 69 | 11 | Dallas | United States |
| 60 | 72 | 12 | Atlanta | United States |
| 62 | 75 | 13 | Morristown | United States |
| 51 | 75 | 14 | Houston | United States |
| 69 | 86 | 15 | Minneapolis | United States |
| 66 | 89 | 16 | San Juan | Puerto Rico |
| 73 | 91 | 17 | Port of Spain | Trinidad & Tobago |
| 175 | 92 | 18 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti |
| 94 | 93 | 19 | Vancouver | Canada |
| 98 | 98 | 20 | Toronto | Canada |
*North America, South and Central America
Oceania: the most expensive cities in 2021
| Global ranking | Regional ranking | City | Country |
|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2021 |
|---|
| 66 | 31 | 1 | Sydney | Australia |
| 42 | 32 | 2 | Nouméa | New Caledonia |
| 99 | 59 | 3 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 104 | 63 | 4 | Perth | Australia |
| 103 | 70 | 5 | Auckland | New Zealand |
| 118 | 75 | 6 | Canberra | Australia |
| 126 | 81 | 7 | Brisbane | Australia |
| 126 | 88 | 8 | Adelaide | Australia |
| 123 | 94 | 9 | Wellington | New Zealand |
