New Zealand cities are getting cheaper to live in and operate from – making them more attractive to multinationals looking to contain the cost of mobile workforce in tighter economic times.
That’s according to the latest Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, which ranks 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location.
Across the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand cities are now extremely cost-competitive destinations for global workers in comparison to cities such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka, which have all climbed in the rankings this year. Auckland has moved down to 138th place (scoring 54 points) from 78th in 2008, followed by Wellington in 139th place (scoring 52.3 points), down from 93rd place 12 months ago.
However, the gap is closing – Wellington’s cost of living index score sits only 1.7 basis points behind Auckland this year, compared to 3.4 points 12 months ago.
Both cities ranked highly on Mercer’s 2009 Quality of Living survey with Auckland in fourth place overall and Wellington in 12th.
Across the Tasman, Sydney remains the most expensive city for expatriates but has dropped from 15th to 66th place. Worldwide, Tokyo has knocked Moscow off the top spot to become the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, with Osaka in second position. Johannesburg has replaced Asunción in Paraguay as the least expensive city in the ranking.
In Mercer’s survey, New York is used as the base city for the index and scores 100 points.
For more information go to www.mercer.co.nz
