Dhaka named costliest city for expats in S Asia again

Dhaka has again been named the most expensive city in South Asia for foreign employees in the Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey 2022.

Its rank fell by 58 notches compared to last year, but it still came out as one of the world’s 100 most expensive cities for expatriates.

The Bangladeshi capital ranked 98th this year. It occupied the 40th position last year and 26th in 2020.

Released on Wednesday, the survey ranked 227 cities and was based on the comparative costs of more than 200 goods and services in each location, including housing, transportation, and food. New York City was used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements were measured against the US dollar.

In South Asia, India’s Mumbai (127th), New Delhi (155th), Chennai (177th), and Bengaluru (178th) were listed as less costly than Dhaka for foreign workers.

The Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, was ranked as less expensive than Dhaka with a global ranking of 183rd. It was followed by Hyderabad (192nd), Pune (201st), and Kolkata (203rd).

Pakistan’s Islamabad and Karachi were named the least expensive cities for expatriates in South Asia, and their global rankings were 224th and 223rd respectively. They were also named the world’s fourth and fifth least expensive cities respectively.

Turkey’s Ankara was ranked the world’s least expensive city for expatriates, followed by Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Dushanbe in Tajikistan.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong once again came out as the world’s costliest city for overseas workers, followed by Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern.

Yvonne Traber, partner at Mercer and global head for the mobility business, said the volatility triggered by Covid-19 and further worsened by the Ukraine crisis had fuelled global economic and political uncertainty.

“This uncertainty, coupled with significant rising inflation in most of the countries around the world, has international assignees concerned about their purchasing power and socio-economic stability.”