Mumbai 74th most expensive city for expatriates: Mercer survey

Kolkata ranked 193 is the least expensive among Indian cities

Mumbai ranked  74th in the list of most expensive global cities to live in for expatriates according to a survey.

Mumbai, touted as India's financial capital, climbed 66 places in the ranking in the past year due to rapid economic growth, inflation in the goods and services basket, and a stable currency.

 "Mumbai has witnessed higher inflation over the last one year as compared to other metro cities, higher cost of fuel, transportation, increased prices of food items, home services and rentals, impacting the cost of living in Mumbai," the survey titled Cost of Living Survey 2015 by human resources firm Mercer.

Mumbai is followed by New Delhi (132) and Chennai (157), which rose in the ranking by 25 and 28 spots, respectively. Bangalore (183) and Kolkata (193), the least expensive Indian cities, climbed in the ranking, as well.

Mumbai (74), is ranked higher and more expensive than cities such as Dallas (77), Munich (87), Luxembourg (94), Frankfurt (98) and Vancouver (119) of the world. The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Bishkek (207), Windhoek (206), and Karachi (205).

Luanda, the capital of Angola, has been rated the world’s costliest city to live in, for the third consecutive year . Hong Kong (2), Zurich (3), Singapore (4) and Geneva (5) top the list of most expensive cities for expatriates. Tel Aviv (18) continues to be the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriates. Asian cities dominate the top 10 costliest cities rankings along with major cities in Switzerland in the report.
 
“With a large number of Indian multinational organisations progressively expanding their footprint abroad, 85% of multinationals are expecting expatriate assignments to increase over the next two years to address business needs,” said Ruchika Pal, India Practice Leader, Global Mobility at Mercer. “Indian companies have been bullish on sending employees abroad and view this strategically for multiple reasons. Companies send critical and experienced talent for launching foreign investment, filling in for skill/managerial gap or for developing leaders and careers”, she further added.
 
“Organisations continue to recognize the importance of international assignees. What they need to evaluate even more closely is the impact of political and economic factors such as currency stability, inflation, and political instability, to balance cost versus competitiveness of the expatriate’s compensation package,” added Pal.