Australian Cities Tumble in Global Cost of Living Rankings

The cost of living in Australia’s capital cities has dropped dramatically, but only because their international counterparts are more expensive.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sydney remains Australia’s highest ranked and most expensive city at 29 on the international list, which includes 375 cities across the globe.

The harbour city’s spot was down five places from 24 last year according to Mercer’s 24th annual Cost of Living Survey.

Similarly, Melbourne fell 12 places to 58, Perth fell 11 spots to 61 and Brisbane dropped 13 places to 84.

Mercer’s global mobility leader for Pacific Karla Costa said these latest rankings, which provide data on cost of living and housing for employees sent to work abroad, could mean Australia could become a rich breeding ground for talent from multi-national companies.

“And with six of the top ten most expensive cities in Asia – Australian and New Zealand cities are looking far more attractive for businesses to send employees on international assignments, particularly those doing business in the Asia Pacific region.”

New Zealand cities also fell on this year’s cost of living rankings, Auckland (81) and Wellington (101) fell 15 and 20 places respectively.

Costa said this Australasia tumble was mainly due to the movement of other cities on the list.

To calculate the ranking the survey measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons, and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.

And the world’s most expensive city is…

Hong Kong took the top spot as the world’s most expensive city, with Tokyo second and Zurich in third place.

Claiming six out of the top 10 spots, Asian cities dominate the list of most expensive locations, with Shanghai taking seventh spot and Beijing ninth.

Due to technology advances and the importance of a globally connected workforce, president of Mercer’s career business Ilya Bonic says deploying talent remains a key component of a multinational’s business strategy.

“While a mobile workforce allows organisations to achieve greater efficiency, utilise top talent, and be cost effective with international projects, volatile markets and slowing economic growth in many parts of the world require them to carefully assess expatriate remuneration packages.”