Abu Dhabi and Dubai benefit thanks to fall in living costs- New Mercer study
§ Abu Dhabi (67)and Dubai ranked (81)
§ Luanda in Angola is the world's mostexpensive city for expatriates; Karachi is the cheapest
§ Top 10 ranked cities dominated by Africa, Asiaand Europe
The trend of falling accommodation costs continuesacross the Middle East region, driving the cities down the global cost ofliving ranking and, particularly in the case of politically stable markets suchas the UAE, making them potentially more attractive places for expatriates tolive.
Mercer's2011 Cost of Living Survey out today shows that Abu Dubai is ranked the mostexpensive city in UAE for expats. Dubai, now ranked 81 globally, has dropped 26places compared to last year.
Othercities across the GCC were ranked as follows: Riyadh, KSA (135) , Manama,Bahrain (157), Kuwait City, Kuwait (159 ), Doha Qatar (164), Muscat, Oman (184)and Jeddah KSA (185)
TheMercer Cost of Living Survey data is the most comprehensive in the world and isused by firms and governments to help determine remuneration for expats beingrelocated to cities across the globe.
Callum Burns-Green who heads Mercer's Dubai office says "Dubai in particular has witnessed a reductionin accommodation costs since 2009 as the strong supply of property coming on tothe rental market has reduced the shortage that existed in the several yearsprior to 2008. The Government has also announced plans to control inflation inother key areas such as the cost of food."
Luanda in Angola isthe world's most expensive city for expatriates for the second year running,largely due to the high costs associated with security and safe accommodation,according to Mercer's 2011 Cost of Living Survey. Tokyo remains insecond position and Ndjamena in Chad in third place. Moscow follows in fourthposition with Geneva in fifth and Osaka in sixth. Zurich jumps one position to rankseventh, while Hong Kong drops down to ninth.
The survey covers214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, householdgoods and entertainment. It is the world's most comprehensive cost of livingsurvey and is designed to help multinational companies and governments determinecompensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as thebase city and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements aremeasured against the US dollar. The cost of housing - often the biggest expensefor expats - plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.
New entries in thetop 10 list of the costliest cities in the world are Singapore (8), up from 11,and Sao Paolo (10), which has jumped 11 places since the 2010 ranking. Karachi(214) is ranked as the world's least expensive city, and the survey found thatLuanda, in top place, is more than three times as costly as Karachi. Recentworld events, including natural disasters and political upheavals, haveimpacted the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, costinflation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices.
"Multinational companies have long understoodthe competitive advantage of a globally mobile workforce, though the enduringchallenge is to balance the cost of their expatriate programmes. Currencyfluctuations, inflation, political instability and natural disasters are allfactors that influence the cost and quality of living for expats. It isessential that employers understand their impact, for cost-containment purposesbut also to ensure they retain talented employees by offering competitivecompensation packages that are tailored to the needs of the expatriate on theground" says Callum Burns-Green
"During the periodof data-collection for this year's survey the world has witnessed an incrediblenumber of natural disasters and political upheavals that have all affected thelives of expatriate employees to some extent. The resulting currencyfluctuations and the impact of inflation on goods and services - petrol inparticular - have impacted the changes to the cost of living ranking of manycities. Overall, cities in the Middle East have moved down the table reflectinga reduction in cost relative to other regions. Where the depreciation has been accompaniedby political stability and good levels of security, such as in the UAE, allother things being equal, we would generally expect a favourable impact onthose cities from an economic perspective as expatriates and their employerssee a reduced cost of living and doing business there."
Mercer produces individualcost of living and rental accommodation cost reports for each city surveyed.For further information, or to purchase copies of the individual city reports,visit www.mercer.com/costofliving
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Notes for Editors
Important: The list ofrankings is provided to journalists for reference, and should not be publishedin full. The top 10 and bottom 10 cities in either list may be reproduced in atable. The figures forMercer's Cost of Living and rental accommodation costs comparisons are derived froma survey conducted in March 2011. March 2011 exchange rates and Mercer'sinternational basket of goods and services have been used as basis measurements.
The information is used by governments and majorcompanies to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferredabroad; rental accommodation costs data is used to assess local expatriatehousing allowances. The choiceof cities surveyed is based on the demand for data.
About Mercer
Mercer is a globalleader in human resource consulting, outsourcing and investment services. From its GCC offices in Dubai and Riyadh, Mercerteams work with clients across the region to solve their most complex benefitand human capital issues. Mercer is the world's largest HR consulting firm, withrevenue of US$3.5B. It is the global market share leader in retirement,health & benefits and investment consulting. It is an advisor to nineout of ten Fortune 100 companies. Ithas been judged the most trusted HR consulting brand in the world. Mercer is a truly global firmserving clients in more than 40 countries and 180 cities worldwide. Mercer hasbeen rated the most prestigious HR consulting firm to work for. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary ofMarsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., which lists its stock (ticker symbol:MMC) on the New York, Chicago and London stock exchanges. For more information,visit me.mercer.com
© Press Release 2011
