The Mercer’s 2022 cost of living city ranking reveals the most expensive cities for international employees. It provides employers with current, extensive and reliable data to help them navigate compensation strategies for their mobile employees in the unpredictable global markets.
At number 127, Mumbai is the most expensive city in India followed by New Delhi at number 155.
Chennai is at number 177, Bengaluru at 178 and Hyderabad at number 192, finds Mercer's 2022 Cost of Living survey.
As per the ranking, Pune and Kolkata are the least expensive Indian cities in the ranking at 201 and 203 respectively.
Mercer measured the comparative cost of more than 200 things — including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment — to come up with its ranking.
Speaking about the top city, Hong Kong, is the world’s most expensive place for employees sent abroad to work
Four Switzerland cities Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Bern ranked second to fifth place respectively in Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey 2022.
Three other Asian Cities — Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing — made the top 10, filling 8th, 9th and 10th spots respectively.
High rankings for many Asian cities were driven by inflation and strong currencies, the management consultancy said in its report.
Apart from this, the report also showed the cheapest places for foreign employees to live which included Turkey’s Ankara, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Dushanbe in Tajikistan.
The report said global issues including COVID-19, war in Ukraine, exchange rate fluctuations and widespread inflation were affecting employees’ salaries and savings, while the number of professionals relocating to Asia over the past 18 months had fallen.
Tracey Ma, Mercer’s Regional Mobility Leader for Asia Pacific, said a talent shortage in developed countries, which rely heavily on foreign workers, could become an issue exacerbated by higher living costs.
