Singapore ranked 14th priciest market for expats globally

It has compromised places with two Japanese cities Osaka and Nagoya.

Singapore became the 14th most expensive location for expats in the world, which went down two places compared to its standing in 2019, according to a survey by ECA International.

Amongst Asian markets, the Lion City ranked seventh and was outpaced by Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat, Hong Kong and Japanese cities Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya. Despite the drop in ranking, the report assured that it remains an expensive location for overseas workers to be based in.

“The Singapore dollar has remained strong in recent years, and the country sits below only Hong Kong and Japanese cities in terms of the most expensive Asian locations for expatriates,” said Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International.

As for its Asian peers, Hong Kong dropped slightly in the rankings after falling behind to the Swiss cities of Basel and Bern, and now sits outside of the top five most expensive locations globally. Chinese cities all dropped in the most recent cost of living rankings this year, including Beijing and Shanghai which both fell nine places at 24th and 19th, respectively.

The cost of living in Korea Republic has also been hit by COVID-19, with Seoul falling from eight place to 17th in the global rankings, and Busan dropped out of the top 20 entirely.