Seoul Remains Costliest Asian City For Expats: Survey

Source : Today, Wednesday, August 8, 2007

SEOUL remains the most expensive place to stay in Asia for expatriates due mainly to the stronger won, while living costs in Japan have eased because of a weaker yen, a survey released yesterday showed.

Seoul, which retained its ranking as Asia’s costliest city from last year, ranked seventh globally, human resources firm ECA International’s cost of living survey showed.

Within Asia, Tokyo placed second followed by Yokohoma, Kobe, Hong Kong and then Taipei.
Rounding up the top 10 rankings were Beijing in seventh spot followed by Shanghai, Singapore and Jakarta.

The stronger won has seen foreign expatriates living in the South Korean capital paying 10 per cent more for the same items compared to their counterparts in Tokyo.

The differentials between Singapore and the rest of Asia have also narrowed significantly as living costs in the city-state have risen, said ECA.

“A combination of weaker currencies and lower inflation in a number of historically more expensive locations ... means that the cost of living differential between Singapore and many of its neighbours is narrowing,” said Mr Lee Quane, the general manager of ECA. “While increases in living costs between surveys tend to be low, above-average increases in recent years has seen Singapore close the gap on these locations.”

Expatriates and foreign workers in Singapore have also been hit hard by the booming property sector which has seen landlords raising rents.