Stop and ask yourself what's the most expensive city in the world to live in, or the cheapest.
Almost no matter what you thought, you're in for surprises on the latest edition of Mercer's Cost of Living Survey, which has been surveying the cost of more than 200 items in more than 200 cities for 27 years. The basket includes accommodation, transportation, food and household items.
Scandinavian cities have a reputation for expensive living, but it turns out that the most expensive, Copenhagen, is only 16th on the list—barely above London, another common choice for expensive—and two steps cheaper than New York. Above New York, among others are three Swiss cities, three Chinese cities and Hong Kong. Surprise winner(?): Ashgabat, in Turkmenistan.
At the other end of the chain, the twenty cheapest cities follow a more predictable pattern, with many cities in Africa on the list and few in Europe. The absolute cheapest? Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan—only one country east of Turkmenistan.
Here are the lists:
CHEAPEST
- Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
- Lusaka, Zambia
- Tbilisi, Georgia
- Tunis, Tunisia
- Brasilia, Brazil
- Windhoek, Namibia
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Gaborone, Botswana
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Banjul, Gambia
- Islamabad, Pakistan
- Algiers, Algeria
- Minsk, Belarus
- Managua, Nicaragua
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Skopje, North Macedonia
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Blantyre, Malawi
MOST EXPENSIVE
- Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
- Hong Kong
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Tokyo, Japan
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Shanghai, China
- Singapore
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Beijing, China
- Bern, Switzerland
- Seoul, South Korea
- Shenzhen, China
- Ndjamena, Chad
- New York City, USA
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Guangzhou, China
- London, UK
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Libreville, Gabon
Title image: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
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