Mumbai remains most expensive city in India, 78th in the world: Mercer

Besides Mumbai, which fell 18 notches from last year in the ranking, four other Indian cities featured on the list of most expensive cities globally

Mumbai remains the most expensive city for expatriates surveyed in India and among the top 20 in Asia, shows the Mercer 2021 Cost of Living City Ranking.
 

Of the 206 cities on the list, Mumbai ranks 78, down 18 spots from last year’s ranking. In all, five Indian cities feature on the list. After Mumbai, New Delhi is ranked 117, Chennai 158, Bengaluru 170 and Kolkata 181.
 

Interestingly, three of the five Indian cities have dropped in rankings this year. After Mumbai, which dropped from 60th to 78th, New Delhi dropped 16 places this year, Chennai was down 15 places. Bengaluru gained one place while Kolkata gained four spots.
 

Mercer’s biannual Cost of Living survey helps employers navigate expatriate compensation, accounting for factors such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability in accommodation prices, which are essential to determining the cost of compensation packages for employees on international assignments.
 

The survey used New York City, ranked 14 on the list, as the base city and currency movements were measured against the US dollar.
 

This year’s rankings found Ashgabat in Turkmenistan to be the most expensive city, up one place from the previous ranking. The country’s ongoing financial crisis was cited as the reason for Ashgabat getting the top spot. Similarly, Indian cities’ slip in rankings was attributed to a week Indian rupee.
 

The list of top 10 most expensive cities mostly features global financial hubs like Hong Kong, which was the priciest last year, Tokyo, Shanghai, Zurich and Singapore.