Porni Banerjee | ১৮ জুন ২০২৪ ১৬ : ৩৮Porni Banerjee

Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the land of Bollywood, retains its title as the country’s costliest city for expats to live in, as revealed by a survey conducted by HR consultancy Mercer.

Mercer’s 2024 survey on Cost of Living revealed that Mumbai is expensive in aspects of personal care, transportation, housing rentals, energy and utilities. Whereas Hong Kong has been tagged as the world’s most expensive city for expats.

Of the 226 cities surveyed, Mumbai jumped 11 places to rank 136, followed by Delhi that has risen by four spots to 164. On the contrary, Chennai has come down five places to 189 and Bengaluru has dropped by six spots to rank 195. Whereas, Hyderabad remains unchanged at 202, Pune jumped eight spots to 205 and Kolkata climbed four spots to 207. In Asia, Mumbai stands as the 21st most expensive city, with Delhi in the 30th position.

“Factors such as employment growth, rising middle class, and a largely resilient economy positively impacted the cost of living in India. Despite Mumbai"s rise in rankings, the overall affordability of Indian cities remains a key advantage for multinational organisations or Indian companies looking to attract global talent,” said Rahul Sharma, India mobility leader at Mercer.

In terms of the costs of personal care products, Mumbai is the most expensive, followed by Chennai, with Kolkata offering them at the most affordable prices. On the other hand, prices of energy and utilities are the highest in Mumbai, followed by Pune.

Again, transportation costs are the highest in Mumbai, with Bengaluru following. However, Kolkata continues to remain the most pocket-friendly city considering costs of milk and dairy products, bread products, beverages, oils, fruits, and vegetables, followed by Pune. Delhi offers alcohol and tobacco products at the least expensive prices to its residents.

The top ten most expensive cities in the world are Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, Geneva, Bern, New York City, London, Nassau and Los Angeles.