For expats, Vietnam is more affordable, survey finds

The low cost of living and stable local currency has made Vietnam more affordable for expats over the past year compared to other cities around the world, according to a survey by world-renowned consulting firm Mercer.


Mercer’s recent Cost of Living Survey, which covers 143 cities worldwide, found Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City had become relatively cheaper places for expats to live since March 2007.

COST OF LIVING
Rankings	Cities
1	Moscow
2	Tokyo
3	London
4	Oslo
5	Seoul
6	Hong Kong
7	Copenhagen
8	Geneva
9	Zurich
10	Milan

The world’s most expensive city is Moscow, ranked number one of the Mercer 2008 list.

Hanoi is ranked 91st on the list and HCMC 100th.

Hanoi moved 35 places down from last year’s ranking and HCMC fell 40 spots down the list, toward the cheaper end.

The survey took into account the cost of 200 items including housing, transport, food, clothing, household necessities and entertainment.

Mercer said Vietnam’s two metropolises had become relatively cheaper mainly because the Vietnamese dong had remained stable against the US dollar, making the cost of living in Hanoi and HCMC comparatively lower.

Lower level of price increases on goods in Hanoi and HCMC compared to in New York also contributed to the cities cheaper rankings, Mercer said.

The cost of living in Hanoi and HCMC was more expensive than Bangkok (ranked 105), Kuala Lumpur (106) and Manila (110) but less costly than Jakarta (82), Guangzhou (70) and Shenzhen (61), the survey found.

Moscow was the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the third consecutive year while Tokyo moved to second position.

Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the ranking for the sixth year running.

Yvonne Traber, a principal and research manager at Mercer, said despite many Asian cities climbing the rankings this year, many companies and their employees still wanted to come to Asia.

The Mercer survey is regarded as the most comprehensive cost of living survey, which helps multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.