News Tokyo drops to 3rd most expensive city in the world

thomas · 15 Jun 2020

According to the Mercer 2020 Cost of Living report Japan's capital has dropped to the third position in the global ranking of the most expensive cities for ex-pats.

Here are the top 10, with both Switzerland and China claiming three spots each.

Hongkong
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Tokyo
Zurich
Singapore
New York City
Shanghai
Berne
Geneva
Beijing

Tokyo falls to 3rd most expensive city in world for expats - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo has been ranked the third most expensive city for expats in an annual cost of living survey by a U.S. consulting firm, down fro

mainichi.jp

johnnyG · 15 Jun 2020

Gee, as a retiree, maybe I should be considering Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and some others.

thomas · 15 Jun 2020

I recommend No. 208, Windhoek, Namibia. Lovely town, and, evidently, quite inexpensive.

Lothor · 15 Jun 2020

thomas said:
I recommend No. 208, Windhoek, Namibia. Lovely town, and, evidently, quite inexpensive.

I lived in Namibia for two years, Windhoek is a lovely city, and Namibia is a fascinating country with friendly and interesting people.

I'm a bit sceptical about these cost of living surveys though. You can rent a place relatively cheaply in Tokyo, ignoring the initial costs of the deposit, etc. No shortage of single-person apartments for about 5-600 dollars a month in my part of Tokyo's suburbs, which are quite pleasant and conveniently located, in contrast to, say, London. I think these surveys are targeted at a certain type of expat.

thomas · 15 Jun 2020

I'm sure that Mercer caters to a very exclusive ex-pat clientele.

Lothor said:
I lived in Namibia for two years, Windhoek is a lovely city, and Namibia is a fascinating country with friendly and interesting people.

Ten years ago, I spent three weeks on a farm north of Windhoek and fell in love with the country. Unforgettable memories.

mdchachi · 16 Jun 2020

Lothor said:
I'm a bit skeptical about these cost of living surveys though. You can rent a place relatively cheaply in Tokyo, ignoring the initial costs of the deposit, etc. No shortage of single-person apartments for about 5-600 dollars a month in my part of Tokyo's suburbs, which are quite pleasant and conveniently located, in contrast to, say, London. I think these surveys are targeted at a certain type of expat.

Yes these surveys are useless for most people. I think they assume the ex-pat will maintain their standard of living. So if you have a 200 m2 home in your home country and want one in Tokyo, naturally it's going to cost you.

zoomingjapan · 18 Jun 2020

I still don't quite get why Munich is not in the top list, honestly.
I never found Tokyo THAT expensive compared to Munich (sorry I haven't experienced any of the other cities listed myself), but I guess it also depends on your salary and taxes and taxes are so much lower in Japan than in Germany that it makes a HUGE difference.

hellohello2 · 30 Jun 2020

I find the fact that Tokyo is even listed is absurd.
In terms of real estate, which is the majority of expenses for most people, Tokyo is much much cheaper than cities such as London, San Francisco, New York, and other top tier financial centers. In terms of the top financial centers, Tokyo is almost certainly the cheapest.
My expenses in Tokyo is only 1/3 of that in San Francisco, while living in a better area with a newer house. If you have ~15M salary, you barely make by in those other cities but can live like a king in Tokyo.

mrrobot · 20 Aug 2020

Perhaps they haven't heard of my city. Vancouver, BC.

Thank god for our medical and the people who serve in that industry but everything else . . . IS EXPENSIVE

I mean the houses here are all a million plus - Unless you're a doctor or something, good luck buying one. Oh the irony . . .

mdchachi · 25 Aug 2020

mrrobot said:
Perhaps they haven't heard of my city. Vancouver, BC.

Thank god for our medical and the people who serve in that industry but everything else . . . IS EXPENSIVE

I mean the houses here are all a million plus - Unless you're a doctor or something, good luck buying one. Oh the irony . . .

Just do what they used to do in Japan. Take out multi-generational loans. Then you're all set. haha.

News Tokyo drops to 3rd most expensive city in the world

thomas

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Tokyo falls to 3rd most expensive city in world for expats - The Mainichi

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