NZ more expensive for expats, but much cheaper than Oz

NZPA

Tuesday 12th July 2011

The strength of the dollar has made New Zealand a more expensive place for expatriates to move to, but it remains far cheaper than Australia.

In Mercer's annual cost of living survey, published today, Auckland has moved up to 118th place from 149 the year before, while Wellington rose to 136 from 163.

Sydney moved up 10 places to 14, Melbourne lifted from 33 to 21, Perth surged 30 places to rank 30, Canberra rose 40 places to 34, and Adelaide was up 44 places to 46.

The survey covers 214 cities and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

Luanda in Angola is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the second year running. Tokyo remains in second position and N’Djamena in Chad is in third place. Moscow is fourth, with Geneva fifth and Osaka sixth. Zurich jumps one position to seventh, Singapore rises three places to eighth and Hong Kong slips one place to ninth.

London is 18th, Milan 25th, and Paris 27th, while New York is the most expensive North American city at 27th. Least expensive is Karachi in Pakistan.

Sarah Barnaby of Mercer said that rising costs, due to currency fluctuations and natural disasters had presented challenges for multinational organisations managing workforces in New Zealand, but that did not diminish its appeal to expatriates or their employers.

Organisations managing an international workforce should not view costs associated with currency fluctuations in isolation but factor them into longer term growth plans for the business.

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