Swiss cities pricey for foreign professionals
Geneva, Zurich and Bern all come high on the list in a survey aimed at ranking the most expensive cities worldwide for expatriates.
With Geneva in 5th place, Zurich ranking 7th and Bern in 16th, Swiss cities feature prominently among the 20 most expensive cities for expats in the newly published Mercer’s global 2011 Cost of Living Survey.
Luanda, in Angola, tops the list for the second year in a row, ahead of Tokyo, N’Djamena and Moscow, Mercer said in a statement.
The survey, which covers 214 cities across five continents, measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items, such as housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for expatriate employees, the survey compares all cities against New York, which is taken as the base city.
New entries in the top 10 include Singapore (8), up from 11, and Sao Paolo (10), which has jumped 11 places since the 2010 ranking. Karachi (214) is ranked the world’s least expensive city.
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