Surprisingly, Singapore is just 30th costliest city in the world for expats

It moved up by one notch.

Singapore is now the 30th most expensive location globally for international assignees, having moved up one spot from last year’s 31st position.

This is among the findings of the latest Cost of Living survey by ECA International, the world's leading provider of knowledge, information and technology for the management and assignment of employees around the world.

In the regional ranking, Singapore has slipped one spot to 9th position. It is now behind Hong Kong (8th position) for the first time since 2010. This is largely due to the recent weakening of the Singapore dollar against the US dollar to which the Hong Kong currency is pegged.

“As in many parts of the world, Singapore saw a slowdown in price rises this year,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia, ECA International.

“Actions previously taken to temper rapidly rising prices there included careful management of the dollar by the MAS. However, as inflation fell, the dollar has been allowed to weaken a little.

Nevertheless, in both the global and regional context Singapore has maintained its position as one of the more expensive locations in the world for expatriates – a very different picture from just ago when it was only just in the global top 100.”

Singapore remains more expensive than its neighbours in Southeast Asia: Bangkok (in 26th position in Asia), Jakarta (27th), Vientiane (28th) and Kuala Lumpur (30th).

To ensure that their employees' spending power is not compromised while on international assignment multinational companies will often include a cost of living allowance in their pay package. Living costs for assignees are affected by inflation, availability of goods and exchange rates, all of which can have a significant impact on assignee remuneration packages.

To assist companies with their calculations ECA carries out two Cost of Living Surveys per year, comparing a basket of like-for-like consumer goods and services commonly purchased by assignees in 440 locations worldwide.