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Cost of living fell in most Gulf cities in 2021; Riyadh most expensive Gulf city
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Abu Dhabi and Dubai fell 17 and 19 places respectively on Mercer Cost of Living Survey this year
Beirut was the most expensive city in the Middle East and third most expensive in the world for overseas workers this year according to Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey.
The Lebanese capital jumped 42 places into third place as a result of “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”, Mercer said.
It was also the only Middle Eastern city to figure among the top 20 expensive cities this year.
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 was the most expensive GCC city.
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.
The UAE capital Abu Dhabi’s ranking fell 17 points from 39 last year to 56 in 2021. Mercer said 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.
Doha was the least expensive Gulf city in both 2020 (109) and 2021 (130) followed by Kuwait City (113 in 2020 and 115 in 2021). Dubai fell 19 places, from 23 in 2020 to 42 in 2021. Muscat’s ranking fell 12 places to 108 from 96 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) were the least expensive cities in the MENA region in 2021.
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 is Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek, followed by Zambian capital Lusaka and Tbilisi in Georgia, according to Mercer’s survey.
New York was 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.