Tel Aviv ranked most pricey Mideast city for ex-pats

Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriates and one of the most expensive in the world, according to the annual Worldwide Cost of Living Survey of 214 cities by Mercer. Despite falling seven places in the rankings from No. 24 in 2011, Tel Aviv once again 'beat' other Middle Eastern cities, including Abu Dhabi (No. 67), Dubai (No. 81) and Amman (No. 103.)

Tel Aviv outranks New York (No. 33) and Paris (No. 37) but is below London (No. 25). Tokyo tops the rankings, followed by Luanda (Angola), Osaka, Moscow, Geneva, Zurich, Singapore, N’Djamena (Chad), Hong Kong and Nagoya.

The cost-of-living survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is the baseline city.

"On the whole, most Middle Eastern cities have dropped in the ranking, mainly because price increases on goods and services have been more moderate here than in our benchmark city, New York," said Nathalie Constantin-Métral, Senior Researcher at Mercer responsible for compiling the ranking each year.

Tokyo is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, pushing Luanda, Angola, down to second position. Cities from Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, Chad and Hong Kong rounded up the top-ten.

Mercer measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each city, including transport, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. The cost of housing is also included and, as it is often the biggest expense for expatriates, it plays an important part in determining a city's rank. The cost-of-living survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is the baseline city.

"Recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, have affected the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, inflation, and volatility in accommodation prices," Mercer said.