Nairobi has moved up 13 places in an annual global ranking of the world’s most expensive cities for expatriates as insecurity drives up the cost of secure housing units.
A ranking released by consultancy Mercer places Nairobi at position 104 on the list, up from 117 last year.
The ranking could be a result of the high cost of transport and rent for secure residential places in a city that has been rocked by incidents of insecurity.
A more expensive Nairobi could spark demand for wage increments among employees of various multinationals, United Nations agencies and diplomatic missions stationed in Kenya.
Nairobi’s ranking puts it above European cities such as Berlin, Madrid, Glasgow and Stockholm as well as Seattle in the United States. Mercer says that several cities in Africa continue to rank among the most expensive, reflecting high living costs and prices of goods.
Yes, it’s Luanda in Angola. According to the latest research from Mercers, this is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates
According to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer. Tokyo is in second position, with Ndjamena in Chad in third place. Moscow is in fourth position followed by Geneva in fifth while Karachi is ranked as the world’s least expensive city. The survey found that Luanda is three times as costly as Karachi.
From the survey, London (rank 17) is the UK’s most expensive city, followed by Aberdeen (149), Glasgow (155), and Birmingham (158). Belfast (182) is ranked as the UK’s least expensive city.
The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against New York. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expats – plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.
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