Singapore now sixth most expensive city in Asia

The Lion city has overtaken Hong Kong for two reasons.

The Singapore dollar remains strong compared to other currencies while the prices of goods and services continue to rise at roughly 6%, according to an ECA International survey.

These pushed Singapore two notches higher from its eighth ranking in 2011.

Singapore ranks behind Seoul and four Japanese cities, including Tokyo, which tops the list again in Asia and globally.

“When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago, these items were 1.7% less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong,” says Lee Quane, Regional Director, ECA International, Asia. “Now those same items are 8.5% more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”

But ECA said Singapore's rising cost of living will not completely discourage expatriate staffing.

Quane adds: “While such increases are unlikely to deter companies from relocating staff to Singapore, it does mean that costs of sending staff to Singapore will rise as companies need to pay higher allowances to assignees in order to protect purchasing power. In turn, this may erode some of the cost advantages that Singapore previously had over other destinations in the region in terms of the cost of relocating an employee.”