Taipei cheaper to live in than Shanghai, Beijing: survey

The Taiwan capital was ranked the 85th most costly place to live globally, an 8-place drop from the 77th in 2009. The slip was mostly due to currency fluctuations, explained Lee Quane, Asian Regional Director of ECA International.

The surge of Asian economics and currencies and the weakening of Europe and America are reflected in the data, in which most Asian cities moved forward.

The appreciation of the Japanese yen pushed Tokyo to become the priciest location in the world. Japanese cities are also the top-four most expensive places in Asia. Seoul was the fifth most costly in Asia thanks to a strong Korean won, which propelled the South Korean capital from 102nd globally in 2009 to 20th this year.

The survey found that locations in China became cheaper mostly due to the pegging of the Chinese yuan to the weak U.S. dollar. Shanghai dropped 18 places to 46th and Beijing 29 to 55th in the global ranking but both were still far ahead of Taipei in cost of living.

The ECA's Cost of Living Survey is carried out twice a year by comparing “a basket of 128 consumer goods and services commonly purchased by expatriates in over 300 locations worldwide,” the company's website stated. The results are used by multinational companies to help compensate their internationally mobile staff, it added.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email