Amsterdam less expensive for expats
October 19th, 2017
In 2017 Amsterdam went from place 64 to 85 on the list of most expensive cities worldwide. The research has been done by Mercer in their Cost of Living Analysis which compares 209 cities. In this analysis New York is the standard city, the US dollar the standard currency.
This is an important figure, especially for companies with international branches and expats working for them. It helps these companies to decide where to set up new branches and in what way to compensate employees working abroad.
Worldwide
Worldwide Luanda (Angola) is the most expensive city. Hongkong –up until last year number one- comes now in at second place. Asia –with 5 cities- belongs to the most expensive part of the world: Hongkong, Tokio, Seoul, Singapore and Shanghai are in the top 10 of most expensive cities. This has a lot to do with the strong position of their currency compared to the US dollar. An exception is China, due to the fall in currency values. Cities in Australia are not in the top 10 of most expensive cities for expats yet, but getting closer every year.
Just like the most expensive city, you find the cheapest city for expats in Africa: Tunis
Europe
Three European cities you will find in this top 10 –all three Swiss: Zürich (4) is the most expensive European city, followed by Geneva (7) and Bern (10)
You can compare the cost of living in Amsterdam to Rome and Helsinki. The costs of living in most European cities have become less expensive, mainly due to the position of our Euro.
