Prague Among the 20 Most Expensive Cities For Expats in Europe

Hong Kong retains its place atop the rankings for a third straight year as the world’s most expensive city for expats, according to the latest Mercer annual report Tuesday.

In second place was Turkmenistan’s capital city Ashgabat, which has been experiencing hyper-inflation and high costs of importing goods and raw materials.

Tokyo was in third place, followed by Zurich in Switzerland, which has two other cities in the top ten most expensive- Bern (8) and Geneva (9).

Singapore was in fifth place, down two places from the previous year’s survey, and New York in sixth.

Of the four Visegrad capitals, Prague is still by far the most expensive for expats, among the Top 100 in the world with a ranking of #97. Bratislava is the second most expensive, despite falling 26 places in the rankings since 2018, the biggest fall of the four capitals.

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In Europe, London rose four places to 19th, followed by Copenhagen (#25), Dublin (#46), Milan (#47), and Paris (#50). At #202, Skopje is the cheapest city in Europe.

The least expensive cities on the list are Karachi, Bishkek, Tashkent, Windhoek, and Tunis.

Sarra said the survey was based on the cost of living in February going into March, when “most countries had not yet been affected by the (Covid-19) crisis.”