Mumbai climbs 25 spots to become more expensive city to live in than Paris for expats

Mumbai climbed 25 places in the 2017 survey to become the most expensive city in India to live in for expatriates. It was followed by New Delhi and Chennai.

The Gateway of India and the Taj hotels in Mumbai. Photo: Pixabay

Key highlights:

Mumbai has been named the most expensive Indian city for expatriates

Mumbai climbed twenty-five places in the ranking due to its rapid economic growth, inflation

New Delhi at 99th spot and Chennai 135th spot

Mumbai has been named the most expensive Indian city for expatriates and outpaces even global cities such as Paris, Canberra, Seattle and Vienna. India's finance capital came in at 57th place on the list, according to Mercer's 2017 Cost of Living Survey.

An expatriate is a person who lives outside their native country.

Mumbai climbed twenty-five places in the ranking due to its rapid economic growth, inflation on the goods and services basket and a stable currency against the dollar, said the survey.

This most populous city in India is followed by New Delhi at 99th spot and Chennai 135th spot which rose in the ranking by 31 and 23 spots, respectively. Bengaluru was at 166th place and Kolkata at 184th place, the least expensive Indian cities, climbed in the ranking as well.

The costliest city was the capital of Angola, Luanda, which was driven by cost of goods and security, says the survey. The other top 10 most costliest cities for expatriates in the world include Hong Kong (2), Tokyo (3), Zurich (4), Singapore (5), Seoul (6), Geneva (7), Shanghai (8), New York City (9), and Bern (10).

London (30), Aberdeen (146) and Birmingham (147) dropped thirteen, sixty-one and fifty-one spots respectively as a result of the pound weakening against the US dollar following the Brexit vote. Copenhagen (28) fell four places from 24 to 28. Oslo (46) is up thirteen spots from last year, while Paris fell eighteen places to rank 62.

The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Bishkek (208), and Skopje (206).

The survey revealed that Australian cities have all experienced a significant jump in the global ranking since last year mainly due to the strengthening of the Australian dollar. Sydney (25), Australia’s most expensive city for expatriates, gained seventeen places in the ranking along with Melbourne (46) and Perth (50) which went up twenty-five and nineteen spots, respectively.

Mercer’s 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey finds that factors like instability of housing markets and inflation for goods and services contribute to the overall cost of doing business in today’s global environment. The ranking combines day-to-day living expenditure on ten different categories such as rental accommodation, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

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