Angolan capital 'most expensive city for expats'

Luanda, the capital of Angola, has regained top spot 
as the world's most expensive city for expats, pushing 
Hong Kong back into second place.

The claim is made in the 23rd annual cost-of-living 
survey carried out by the advisory firm Mercer.

Tokyo, Zurich and Singapore comprise the rest of the 
top five.

London has fallen to just 30th place in the rankings, 
partly because of the pound's devaluation, with other 
big UK cities also dropping down the rankings.

"UK cities have fallen again this year as the British 
pound weakened before, and after, the EU referendum 
last summer," said Kate Fitzpatrick of Mercer.

"However, London did not drop as far as may be 
expected, with steep prices keeping London as one of the most expensive cities for expatriates worldwide.

"The capital's rental costs remain at the higher end 
globally and have remained stable, or increased slightly 
over the last year as construction cannot keep up with demand," she added.

After London, the other most expensive UK cities 
were Aberdeen (146th), Birmingham (147th), Glasgow 
(161st) and Belfast (170th).

The annual survey looks at more than just the cost to 
expats of renting an apartment or house.

It examines the cost of 200 items in each place, 
including housing, transport, clothes, food and 
entertainment.

Thus it compares the cost of buying a cinema ticket, a 
pair of jeans, a litre of water, a cup of coffee, a litre of 
petrol, a litre of milk, and bread and beer.

The position of Luanda, which has topped these 
rankings frequently in the past few years, is influenced 
by the cost of secure accommodation for expat staff 
as well as for everyday goods.

For instance, the cost of renting an unfurnished 
three-bedroom house of "international standards in an appropriate neighbourhood" is put at a whopping $13,000 
US dollars (£10,300) a month.

In general, Asian and European cities are the most 
expensive. Places six to 10 in the annual rankings are 
taken by Seoul, Geneva, Shanghai, New York and Bern.

Mercer uses New York as its benchmark for comparing 
the costs of living in other cities, and measures currency movements against the US dollar.

"Overall, US cities either remained stable in the ranking 
or have slightly increased due to the movement of the US dollar against the majority of currencies worldwide," said Mercer.