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Abu Dhabi and Dubai fell 17 and 19 places respectively on Mercer Cost of Living Survey this year
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Riyadh remained most expensive Gulf city even as the cost of living fell in most part of the region this year
While Beirut remained the third most expensive cities in the world for overseas workers this year after Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat and Hong Kong, the cost of living eased in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to the annual Cost of Living survey by global consultancy Mercer.
The Lebanese capital, which was also the most expensive city in the Middle East for foreign workers this year, moved up 42 places to figure at third place on the Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey.
“A severe and extensive economic depression due to the escalation of several crises – the country’s largest financial crisis, Covid-19 and the Port of Beirut explosion in 2020” forced Beirut to become the only Middle Eastern place to figure among the top 20 expensive cities this year, the survey said.
Dubai, meanwhile, ranked 42nd, down from 23rd place last year, while Abu Dhabi fell from 39th place to 56th during the period on the Mercer’s list, which
helps in determining the cost of packages for employees on international assignments, which depend on factors such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services and accommodation expenses.
“It is good news for overseas workers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where the cost of living has fallen due to the diversification of the UAE economy, which softened the blow of low oil prices on gross domestic product,” said Mercer.
The ranking of Saudi Arabian cities — Riyadh and Jeddah — jumped marginally compared to last year—from rank 31 Riyadh rose to 29 this year and Jeddah from 104 last year to 94 in 2021.
Riyadh turned out the most expensive GCC city this year, while Doha remained the least expensive Gulf city in both 2020 (109) and 2021 (130) followed by Kuwait City (113 in 2020 and 115 in 2021), as per the latest Mercer’s survey.
The ranking of 209 cities measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items, including housing, transport and food. While the world continues to struggle with the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living in the rest of Gulf cities, according to the list, was lower than last year.
After Beirut, the biggest change in the ranking was witnessed in Jordanian capital Amman, which ranked 71 on the list last year and 94 in 2021, a drop of 23 points.
Like Dubai, Bahrain capital Manama also fell 19 places. It was ranked 52 last year and 71 in 2021. Cairo (137) and Tunis (206), meanwhile were the least expensive cities in the MENA region in 2021, according the latest Cost of Living Survey.
Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat and Hong Kong were the two most expensive cities in the world for overseas workers this year.
The world’s cheapest city, according to the Mercer’s survey, is Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek, followed by Zambian capital Lusaka and Tbilisi in Georgia.
New York ranked as the most expensive city in the US, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Chicago, the Mercer survey found.
Meanwhile, a stronger euro resulted in several European cities climbing up the rankings, with Paris rising into 33rd place.
In Asia, Mumbai is India’s most expensive city despite dropping 18 places in this year’s index due to a relatively weak Indian rupee in comparison with other cities in the ranking, according to Mercer.