Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is listed among three least expensive places in the world to travel.
In all, there are 227 cities on the list and Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living City Ranking reveals the most expensive and cheap cities for international employees.
Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living City Ranking ranks Dushanbe 225th among 227 cities in terms of their quality of living for foreign employees.
Kyrgyzstan’s capita, Bishkek is ranked 226th, and Turkiye’s capital, Ankara (ranked 227th), is named the cheapest city for expatriates to live.
Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent (ranked 221st), and Kazakhstan’s financial hub, Almaty (219th), are among the ten cheapest cities in the world for foreign employees.
The Asian financial hub Hong Kong holds the top spot in Mercer's latest survey, followed by Zurich in second place. Three other Swiss cities – Geneva, Basel and Bern – complete the top five world's most expensive locations for expats.
Mercer’s annual Cost of Living city ranking is based on its Cost of Living data research – one of the most recognized and extensive surveys of its kind, encompassing over 400 cities around the world. Carried out twice per year, the survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments around the world determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees.
In addition to evaluating more than 200 goods and services, Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey highlights essential factors — such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation and accommodation price instability — in determining the cost of packages for internationally mobile employees.
To help ensure the highest relevance of the data it provides, Mercer continuously keeps its Cost of Living Research methodology abreast with the latest trends, adjusting it to the international market developments and international assignees’ spending patterns.
Mercer said its cost of living data, along with its mobility research, shows that widespread inflation, exchange rate variations and the rise of remote and flexible working are all having a material impact on expatriate employees' pay and savings. It cautioned that these influences may have serious consequences for employers in the global battle for talent.
As far as Mercer inflation definition is concerned, inflation is generally defined as the measure of price movements from time T to time T+1, using exactly the same specification of item in terms of packaging size and characteristics. Therefore, for the purpose of Mercer’s Cost of Living survey, Mercer’s inflation quoted figure is designed to provide an indication of how the index has moved in the last six or 12 months in local currency terms, regardless of the currency fluctuations between the home and the host location.
