Switzerland has become entrenched as the most expensive country for expats, who voted five cities in the tiny nation into the top places in a global poll.
Switzerland is regularly voted as the most expensive place for expats to live in global surveys.
Although the country grabbed the prime positions in the table, the USA had the most listings in the survey of more than 440 cities worldwide.
The US ended top with 58 cities in the survey voted for by expats.
New York was the most expensive city in North America, followed by San Francisco. The US dominance of the table is explained by the strong dollar outperforming all other currencies.
In Europe, Zurich took top place – and top ranking in the table from expat data monitor Numbeo’s Cost of Living Index 2020. Norway rivalled Switzerland with four top 10 places.
The remaining top 10 slot was grabbed by the Iceland capital Reykjavik.
Montevideo, Uruguay, won the top ranking in South America.
Indian cities garnered 17 of the last 20 places, only rivalled by Pakistan taking the other three.
London ranked 28 and Paris 24.
Top 20 most expensive expat cities
Rank | City | Country |
---|---|---|
1 | Zurich | Switzerland |
2 | Basel | Switzerland |
3 | Lausanne | Switzerland |
4 | Geneva | Switzerland |
5 | Bern | Switzerland |
6 | Stavanger | Norway |
7 | Oslo | Norway |
8 | Trondheim | Norway |
9 | Reykjavik | Iceland |
10 | Bergen | Norway |
11 | New York | USA |
12 | San Francisco | USA |
13 | Anchorage | USA |
14 | Honolulu | USA |
15 | Brooklyn | USA |
16 | Aalborg | Denmark |
17 | Washington DC | USA |
18 | Tokyo | Japan |
19 | Oakland | USA |
20 | Tel Aviv | Israel |
Countries with the most cities voted by expats
Rank | Country | No of cities |
---|---|---|
1 | USA | 58 |
2 | India | 32 |
3 | UK | 24 |
4 | Russia | 21 |
5 | Germany | 18 |
6 | Canada | 17 |
7 | Poland | 11 |
8 | Spain | 10 |
9 | Romania | 10 |
10 | Australia | 10 |
11 | Ukraine | 9 |
12 | Italy | 9 |
13 | Netherlands | 8 |
14 | Mexico | 8 |
15 | France | 6 |
16 | Brazil | 6 |
17 | China | 6 |
18 | Switzerland | 5 |
19 | Turkey | 5 |
20 | Ireland | 4 |