Tokyo the Most Expensive City for Corporate Expatriates
The Britain's major personnel consulting firm ECA International bared that Tokyo ranks atop the list of cities with the highest living expenses in the year 2016 - for the first time in four years.
The phenomenon - a soaring hop from 12th to 7th place in such a short period of time - was only a repercussion of abrupt dollar uphike that took place during the survey period. Yokohama jumped from 27th to 5th, Nagoya 28th to 7th, Osaka 36th to 9th, etc. - all into higher brackets of the list.
The survey was done in September this year for 450 cities across the world on the cost of living itemized on foods, wearings, home appliances, leisure, and other such commodities and services, except for house rent, education, etc. that are generally provided for apart from the wages.
The 2nd most expensive city is the capital of the Republic of Angola, Luanda, followed by Zürich and Geneva, Switzerland.
In Europe, British cities dropped markedly in the list of costly cities. London fell for the first time since the survey started in 2004 out of the list of top 100s. This is a result of Britain's walkout from the EU and its subsequent effect on the British pound. London is now decisively lower in the cost living as compared with other European cities as Berlin and Brussel.
Ranked 7th last year, Shanghai, Asia's most expensive town to live in, dropped 6 digits over the year down to 13th this year. Other Chinese cities like Beijing and Guangzhou have also dropped in ranking from last year.
By the way, Japanese corporate expatriates are in most cases paid to maintain their livelihood in the destination points at the level they are entitled to enjoy at home - meaning, those posted in developing countries are capable of indulging in luxuries - meaning more chances of fattening your bank savings. (Nathan Shiga)
Source: Nikkei
