On June 10, 2020, Mercer released its 26th Annual Cost of Living Survey 2020. From India, Mumbai city has been ranked 60th most expensive city globally and also 19th in Asia. Mumbai is the only Indian city ranked in the top 100. Hongkong tops the list globally.
Mercer’s 26th annual Cost of Living Survey will help employers navigate non-native packages, essential due to uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic and consider alternate forms of international assignments to sustain overseas operations.
- The survey includes over 400 cities throughout the world; this year’s ranking includes 209 cities across five continents.
- It measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.
Note: New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
Highlights of the survey:
Costliest cities (Top 10 Global):
The world’s most expensive city since 2019 has remained Hong Kong and the survey suggests that the least expensive cities for emigrants are Tunis, Tunisia at 209 globally and Windhoek, Namibia at 208.
| Rank Global 2019 | Rank Global 2020 | City | Country or region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 7 | 2 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan |
| 2 | 3 | Tokyo | Japan |
| 5 | 4 | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 3 | 5 | Singapore | Singapore |
Most expensive Indian cities
Mumbai tops the list at a global rank of 60 and also the 19th most expensive city in Asia. Followed by New Delhi at 101 and Chennai at 143.
Bengaluru and Kolkata are the least expensive Indian cities with ranks (global) 171 and 185 respectively.
| City | Rank (Global) |
|---|---|
| Mumbai | 60 |
| New Delhi | 101 |
| Chennai | 143 |
About Mercer:
Mercer’s is the world’s most comprehensive and widely recognized survey. It is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate/non-native employees.
History
Established in 1937 in the United States as the employee benefits department of Marsh & McLennan, Inc. The company took the name of “William M. Mercer” in 1959 when Marsh & McLennan acquired William M. Mercer Limited, a Canadian firm founded by William Manson Mercer in 1945. In 1975, Mercer became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. In 2002, the company changed its corporate name to Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The company became “Mercer” in 2007.
President and CEO– Martine Ferland
