EuroCost International, a Luxembourg based analytical firm that specializes in the cost of living for expatriates throughout the world, have released their 2010 worldwide city ranking for expatriate cities throughout the world.
In order to attempt to meet the needs of all expatriate budgets, they focus on a different type of rental property each year. The focus for this year was on 2-3 bedroom apartments and flats and they compiled the results by assessing the cost of renting these properties, as converted to Euros in December 2009.
Their website explains that the 2010 results depict marked changes from those observed in 2009 and they provide two main reasons for this. Firstly, the housing crisis has believed to have contributed significantly to changes in rental prices throughout the world and 2009 has been an exception in that property prices have fallen for the first time in many years. Despite this the expatriate rental market in some countries have been more affected than others and therefore not all expat rental markets have seen a reduction in the monthly rents charged. Secondly, exchange rate fluctuations have also impacted the evolution of rental prices and the fall in value of currencies such as the GBP and the Euro have entailed that areas in the Euro zone have passed their Asian counterparts as being the more expensive rental markets for expatriates.
The top twenty most expensive places in the world to rent a property as an expatriate:
| COUNTRY | CITY | (2009) | |
| 1 | JAPAN | Tokyo | (1) |
| 2 | UNITED KINGDOM | London | (3) |
| 3 | CHINA | Hong Kong | (2) |
| 4 | RUSSIA | Moscow | (4) |
| 5 | ANGOLA | Luanda | (6) |
| 6 | INDIA | Mumbai | (5) |
| 7 | UNITED STATES | New York | (7) |
| 8 | JAPAN | Osaka | (8) |
| 9 | SINGAPORE | Singapore | (9) |
| 10 | LEBANON | Beirut | (28) |
| 11 | FRANCE | Paris | (13) |
| 12 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | Abu Dhabi | (11) |
| 13 | THE NETHERLANDS | Amsterdam | (16) |
| 14 | AUSTRALIA | Sydney | (41) |
| 15 | SWITZERLAND | Geneva | (19) |
| 16 | UNITED STATES | San Francisco | (14) |
| 17 | UKRAINE | Kiev | (10) |
| 18 | CONGO D.R. | Kinshasa | (27) |
| 19 | BRAZIL | Rio | (71) |
| 20 | SOUTH KOREA | Seoul | (36) |
EuroCost’s commentary on the 2010 results points out the following:
- The top 9 most expensive cities in which to rent property remains largely unchanged from the 2009 results.
- Beirut has appeared in the top 20 most expensive cities in the world in which to rent a property for the first time, with this being attributed to high levels of real estate speculation in the region. Sydney, Kinshasa, Rio and Seoul have also made an appearance for the first time.
- Expat rental costs in the United Arab Emirates have decreased between 2009 and 2010, with reductions between 30 and 50% being observed in Dubai.
- Not all European cities have suffered in the financial crisis and as a result of currency fluctuations. London, Paris, Amsterdam and Geneva have all become more expensive places to rent a property as an expatriate.
