This 2017 ranking is based on the latest survey conducted by Mercer. It is an analysis of the cost of living for an European expatriate.
The tables below present a ranking of cities, from the cheapest one to the most expensive, in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
Read also: The most expensive cities
Africa
| Regional ranking | Global ranking(1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tunis | Tunisia |
| 2 | 4 | Windhoek | Namibia |
| 3 | 5 | Blantyre | Malawi |
| 4 | 11 | Cape Town | South Africa |
| 5 | 14 | Gaborone | Botswana |
| 6 | 18 | Banjul | Gambia |
| 7 | 19 | Johannesburg | South Africa |
| 8 | 21 | Nouakchott | Mauritania |
| 9 | 22 | Maputo | Mozambique |
| 10 | 23 | Algiers | Algeria |
| 11 | 24 | Kampala | Uganda |
| 12 | 26 | Cairo | Egypt |
| 13 | 39 | Port-Louis | Mauritius |
| 14 | 41 | Rabat | Morocco |
| 15 | 46 | Dar Es Salam | Tanzania |
| 16 | 52 | Niamey | Niger |
| 17 | 54 | Harare | Zimbabwe |
| 18 | 57 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
| 19 | 63 | Kigali | Rwanda |
| 20 | 66 | Lomé | Togo |
| 21 | 71 | Cotonou | Benin |
| 22 | 74 | Addis-Abeba | Ethiopia |
| 23 | 80 | Casablanca | Morocco |
| 24 | 84 | Bamako | Mali |
| 27 | 99 | Nairobi | Kenya |
| 28 | 116 | Douala | Cameroon |
| 29 | 117 | Dakar | Senegal |
| 30 | 119 | Conakry | Guinea Conakry |
| 31 | 126 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
| 32 | 140 | Yaoundé | Cameroon |
| 33 | 151 | Abuja | Nigeria |
| 34 | 156 | Accra | Ghana |
| 35 | 161 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
| 36 | 168 | Abidjan | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 37 | 178 | Libreville | Gabon |
| 38 | 180 | Brazzaville | DR Congo |
| 39 | 182 | Lagos | Nigeria |
| 40 | 195 | N’Djaména | Chad |
| 41 | 197 | Victoria | Seychelles |
| 42 | 209 | Luanda | Angola |
Near and Middle East *
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 68 | Istanbul | Turkey |
| 2 | 93 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
| 3 | 99 | Kuwait | Kuwait |
| 4 | 118 | Muscat | Oman |
| 5 | 129 | Doha | Qatar |
| 6 | 151 | Amman | Jordan |
| 7 | 155 | Manama | Bahrain |
| 8 | 158 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
| 8 | 158 | Beirut | Lebanon |
| 9 | 188 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
| 10 | 191 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
Europe
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Skopje | Republic of Macedonia |
| 2 | 6 | Tbilissi | Georgia |
| 3 | 8 | Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 4 | 10 | Minsk | Belarus |
| 5 | 12 | Belgrade | Serbia |
| 6 | 21 | Tirana | Albania |
| 7 | 26 | Sofia | Bulgaria |
| 8 | 29 | Bucarest | Roumania |
| 9 | 30 | Warsaw | Poland |
| 10 | 34 | Budapest | Hungary |
| 11 | 37 | Limassol | Cyprus |
| 12 | 38 | Leipzig | Germany |
| 13 | 40 | Belfast | Northern Ireland |
| 14 | 42 | Nuremberg | Germany |
| 15 | 43 | Vilnius | Lituania |
| 16 | 47 | Kiev | Ukraine |
| 17 | 49 | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| 17 | 49 | Glasgow | Scotland / United Kingdom |
| 18 | 50 | Tallinn | Estonia |
| 19 | 51 | Zagreb | Croatia |
| 20 | 63 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
| 20 | 63 | Birmingham | England / United Kingdom |
| 21 | 64 | Aberdeen | Scotland / United Kingdom |
| 22 | 66 | Athens | Greece |
| 23 | 69 | Stuttgart | Germany |
| 24 | 73 | Lisbon | Portugal |
| 25 | 78 | Prague | Czech Republic |
| 26 | 84 | Riga | Lettonie |
| 27 | 88 | Düsseldorf | Germany |
| 28 | 89 | Barcelona | Spain |
| 29 | 90 | Berlin | Germany |
| 30 | 93 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 31 | 99 | Madrid | Spain |
| 32 | 103 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 33 | 104 | Stockholm | Sweden |
| 34 | 106 | Brussels | Belgium |
| 35 | 112 | Munich | Germany |
| 36 | 122 | Helsinki | Finland |
| 37 | 125 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 38 | 130 | Rome | Italy |
| 39 | 132 | Vienna | Austria |
| 40 | 139 | Milan | Italy |
| 41 | 144 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 42 | 148 | Paris | France |
| 43 | 164 | Oslo | Norway |
| 44 | 175 | Saint Petersburg | Russia |
| 45 | 183 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 46 | 197 | Moscow | Russia |
| 47 | 200 | Bern | Switzerland |
| 48 | 203 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| 49 | 206 | Zurich | Switzerland |
Asia
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Bichkek | Kirghizstan |
| 2 | 9 | Karachi | Pakistan |
| 3 | 15 | Erevan | Armenia |
| 4 | 26 | Calcutta | India |
| 5 | 28 | Baku | Azerbaijan |
| 6 | 35 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
| 7 | 37 | Islamabad | Pakistan |
| 8 | 44 | Bangalore | India |
| 9 | 45 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia |
| 10 | 75 | Chennai | India |
| 11 | 78 | Colombo | Sri Lanka |
| 12 | 87 | Tachkent | Uzbekistan |
| 13 | 95 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia |
| 14 | 110 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
| 14 | 110 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei |
| 15 | 111 | New Delhi | India |
| 16 | 113 | Ho-Chi-Minh-Town | Vietnam |
| 17 | 115 | Manila | Philippine |
| 18 | 122 | Jakarta | Indonesia |
| 19 | 143 | Yangon | Birmania |
| 19 | 143 | Bangkok | Thailand |
| 20 | 153 | Bombay | India |
| 20 | 153 | Achgabat | Turkmenistan |
| 21 | 164 | Chengdu | China |
| 22 | 165 | Qingdao | China |
| 23 | 168 | Shenyang | China |
| 24 | 173 | Dacca | Bengladesh |
| 24 | 173 | Tianjin | China |
| 25 | 176 | Nagoya | Japan |
| 26 | 178 | Nankin | China |
| 27 | 186 | Taipei | Taiwan |
| 28 | 190 | Osaka | Japan |
| 29 | 192 | Canton | China |
| 30 | 198 | Shenzhen | China |
| 31 | 199 | Beijing | China |
| 32 | 202 | Shanghai | China |
| 33 | 204 | Seoul | South Korea |
| 34 | 205 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 35 | 207 | Tokyo | Japon |
| 36 | 208 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
Americas*
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Monterrey | Mexico |
| 2 | 13 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras |
| 3 | 16 | Managua | Nicaragua |
| 4 | 17 | La Paz | Bolivia |
| 5 | 32 | Asunción | Paraguay |
| 6 | 33 | Mexico | Mexico |
| 7 | 54 | San Salvador | El Salvador |
| 8 | 55 | Kingston | Jamaica |
| 9 | 57 | Bogota | Colombia |
| 10 | 58 | Ottawa | Canada |
| 11 | 59 | Havana | Cuba |
| 12 | 60 | Saint-Domingue | Dominican Republic |
| 13 | 67 | Calgary | Canada |
| 14 | 76 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti |
| 15 | 81 | Montreal | Canada |
| 16 | 84 | Brasilia | Brazil |
| 17 | 87 | Quito | Ecuador |
| 18 | 91 | Toronto | Canada |
| 19 | 95 | Portland | United States |
| 20 | 99 | Guatemala | Guatemala |
| 21 | 100 | San Jose | Costa Rica |
| 22 | 103 | Vancouver | Canada |
| 22 | 103 | Pittsburgh | United States |
| 23 | 106 | Lima | Perou |
| 24 | 110 | Saint-Louis | United States |
| 25 | 115 | Detroit | United States |
| 26 | 122 | Panama | Panama |
| 27 | 124 | Minneapolis | United States |
| 28 | 127 | Atlanta | United States |
| 29 | 129 | Morristown | United States |
| 30 | 134 | Seattle | United States |
| 31 | 135 | Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 32 | 136 | Houston | United States |
| 33 | 143 | Santiago | Chile |
| 34 | 145 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
| 35 | 146 | White Plains | United States |
| 36 | 148 | Dallas | United States |
| 37 | 154 | Rio De Janeiro | Brazil |
| 38 | 159 | Boston | United States |
| 39 | 169 | Miami | United States |
| 40 | 175 | Honolulu | United States |
| 41 | 179 | Chicago | United States |
| 42 | 187 | Los Angeles | United States |
| 43 | 189 | San Francisco | United States |
| 44 | 201 | New York | United States |
Oceania
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 124 | Wellington | New Zealand |
| 2 | 133 | Adelaide | Australia |
| 3 | 139 | Canberra | Australia |
| 3 | 139 | Brisbane | Australia |
| 4 | 149 | Auckland | New Zeland |
| 5 | 160 | Perth | Australia |
| 6 | 164 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 7 | 186 | Sydney | Australia |
