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Nairobi jumps up expensive cities’ ranking
Homes in Runda in Nairobi. A report showing that Nairobi residents spend more than 40 per cent of their monthly salaries on house rent and utilities is indicative of the crisis facing urban households in Kenya. PHOTO/ DIANA NGILA/FILE
What you need to know:
- However, the city still remains among the 100 cheapest places for an expatriate out of the 211 ranked.
- Dhaka and Nairobi (both 117) and Dubai (67) soared 37, 30 and 23 spots respectively.
- On the other hand, Luanda in Angola has been named the world’s most expensive city for the second year running.
The housing boom has seen Nairobi jump from position 147 to 117 in the list of the world’s most expensive cities for expatriates to live and work in, a new study has found.
The Cost of Living Rankings survey conducted by research firm, Mercer also holds that the shilling’s continued strength against the US Dollar responsible for the city’s meteoric rise in this year’s rankings.
Speaking during the launch of the study in New York, Nathalie Constantin-Métral, a principal at Mercer with responsibility of compiling the survey said: “Most cities climbed the list because of high housing cost and strong local currencies.
Dhaka and Nairobi (both 117) and Dubai (67) soared 37, 30 and 23 spots respectively.”
However, the city still remains among the 100 cheapest places for an expatriate out of the 211 ranked.
High cost of security
On the other hand, Luanda in Angola has been named the world’s most expensive city for the second year running.
N’Djamena, the capital city of Chad, has moved up two spots since last year to take the second position.
Although neither Chad nor Angola are economic power houses on the continent, their costliness comes as a result of over-reliance on imported goods as well as the high cost of security and good housing in the region.
“While Luanda and N’Djamena are relatively inexpensive cities, they are quite expensive for expatriates since imported goods come at a premium.
In addition, finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly as well,” said Ed Hannibal, Partner and Global Leader for Mercer’s Mobility practice.
Currency fluctuations
He added that economic and political upheavals resulting in currency fluctuations, inflation, high cost of goods and services, and volatility in accommodation prices had contributed to raising the cost of living for expatriates in those countries.
Nairobi is still the most expensive city in the region compared to Kigali (Rwanda), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Kampala (Uganda which ranked 146, 178 and 194 respectively. Juba in South Sudan was not listed.
Karachi in Pakistan, at position 211, is the cheapest city according to the survey and Windhoek in Namibia is the least expensive in Africa, coming in at number 210.
According to the survey, Luanda is thrice as expensive as Karachi.
