For the second year in a row, Kuwait City ranked 131st globally and 10th in the Arab world on Mercer’s cost-of-living index for expatriates for the year 2023, out of 227 cities on five continents around the world. In this arrangement, it became the cheapest city in the Gulf for expatriate living, and the acquired the tenth place in the Arab world.
The Mercer Expatriate Cost of Living Survey is considered one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind in the world, and New York is the US city when classifying the ranking of cities, and the currency movement is measured against the US dollar, while the survey includes more than 400 cities, reports Al-Anba daily.
The index measures the comparative cost of more than 200 factors affecting each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
At the Arab level, Dubai rose 13 ranks in the “Mercer” index, to become the 18th in the world and the first in the Gulf Arab region, which means that it is the most expensive city in the Gulf and Arab countries for the living of expatriates, followed by Djibouti ranked 27 in the world and the second in the Arab world, then Abu Dhabi ranked 43 in the world and the third in the Arab world.
Riyadh ranked 85 globally and fourth in the Arab world, then Manama 98 globally and fifth in the Arab world, followed by Jeddah 101 globally and sixth in the Arab world, then Oman 110 globally and seventh in the Arab world, then Doha 126 globally and eighth in the Arab world, followed by Muscat ranked 130 globally and ninth in the Arab world.
Mercer said that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among the most expensive cities in the Middle East for expatriates, and their ranking in the index witnessed significant increases compared to last year, in addition to Riyadh and Jeddah, which also jumped in the global ranking by 18 and 10 ranks, respectively, and the cities of Rabat, Algeria and Tunisia ranked 174, 206 and 219 globally, respectively.
New York City remains sixth in the global ranking and represents the most expensive city in North America, followed by Los Angeles (11) and San Francisco (14).
All American cities have risen in the ranking since last year, and the biggest changes were in Detroit (+27 locations) and Houston and Cleveland (both +24 locations). The most expensive cities in the world were, respectively, Hong Kong, then Singapore, Zurich, then Geneva, then Basel New York followed, then Bern.
The company said that the main factors that shaped the global economy in 2022 will continue to influence during 2023, and after more than a year of the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the emergence of more variables resulting from the Corona virus, many economies are still absorbing the shocks resulting from these events.
Due to the recent implementation of strong national monetary policies and the tightening of global financial conditions, many economies are likely to experience slower income growth this year, along with higher unemployment, while debt levels in many countries remain high.
Core inflation has not yet peaked in many markets, and fluctuations in inflation and exchange rates directly affect the salaries and savings of internationally mobile employees, which has an impact when preparing the index.
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