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Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 18:38
Shanghai surpasses HK as costliest location for expatriates in China
By He Weiyi
Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 18:38 By He Weiyi

This June 22, 2016 photo shows a general view of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong skyline from the Peak. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

Hong Kong fell from second to 11th in the cost of living rankings and Shanghai replaced it as the most expensive location for expatriates in China due to a depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar, a new survey by ECA International revealed.

We excluded the housing costs because when companies are moving staff to another location, they will separately apply for housing loans 

Lee Quane, Asia Regional Director at ECA International

The cost of living survey is carried out in March and September by collecting prices of daily commonly purchased goods and services. These include food, basic goods, general expenses, but do not include housing costs. This survey which went up to March 2018 covered 475 locations, while its rankings covered 260 locations.

Asia Regional Director at ECA International Lee Quane said: “We excluded the housing costs because when companies are moving staff to another location, they will separately apply for housing loans which would not be considered in the cost of living survey.”

READ MORE: HK most expensive Chinese city for expats

The rankings are influenced by changes in prices and the exchange rate. Exchange rates have been the main cause of movements in rankings in the past 12 months.

Quane said: “The rates of price increases throughout most of the major locations in Asia researched have been quite low.”

The survey found that Caracas was the most expensive location while Switzerland was the most expensive country. In Asia, Tokyo was ranked No 1, while Seoul was second; Shanghai was the third most expensive location.

ALSO READ: Work in a bank, sleep in a bunk: Hong Kong's 'co-living' trend

For Chinese mainland locations in terms of global rankings, Shanghai was ranked at 10th, Beijing 13th, Guangzhou 24th and Shenzhen 28th.

Quane said: “The stronger yuan pushed up all locations in our rankings, with Shanghai overtaking Hong Kong. Last year we reported that Chinese locations had all dropped in the rankings, but 12 months later the long-term upward trend has returned.”

He also said the fall in Hong Kong’s ranking does not mean that it was a cheaper place, as the prices of the basket of goods have risen by 2 percent this year.

 


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