Dubai Among Most Expensive Cities for Foreign Employees

Dubai has been ranked the 15th Most Expensive Cities for the foreign employee as per Mercer’s recent survey which shows it has moved up three notch higher this year. The high inflation rate that exists in Dubai can be attributed to property rentals which have gone up in the recent past following the pandemic outbreak.

Mercer’s 2019 Cost of Living City Ranking showed that three – bedroom property rents in Dubai increased by 15% by the year 2024.

year on year examination results and the examination results in general rising by 21% between year 2023 and 2024. This increase in housing costs is one of the highest in all cities and has well contributed towards increased cost of income in the city.

According to Mercer’s study, higher costs relating to housing and increased Inflation, for example, put a strain on the employer’s ability to provide competitive remunerations and rewards for the best talents. Most of these factors lead to higher costs in compensation and benefits, restricted geographical transfer of personnel, and higher business costs. High cost of living may compel such assignees to cut their standard of living drastically, sever unnecessary spending and may even barely feed themselves, as noted by Mercer’s global mobility leader Yvonne Traber.

A post Covid 19, rents are expected to have doubled in the areas like Jumeirah Islands, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Sports City, Dubai Hills Estate and Damac hills, according to real estate consultancy Asteco attributing this to the many foregin workers.

According to the sample survey, 226 cities of five continents were compared regarding more than 200 point – living, transport, food, clothing, household utensils, and entertainment. The baseline city was New York city, and the movements were in terms of currency relative to the US dollar.

Other areas that have made the cost of living higher in Dubai are high cost of food and toiletries. Among the rising costs incurred in March 2024 compared with those paid in March 2023 are eggs, olive oil, and coffee have increased whereas prices of petrol, haircuts, and blue jeans have gone down.

With a weighted average of 112. San Francisco is second on the list of the most expensive cities in the region followed by Tel Aviv with a score of 96, thus is ranking 16th in the Middle East. Ranks of the largest city in the GCC countries based on the Potential Future Population: Abu Dhabi 43, Riyadh 90, Jeddah 97, Amman 108, Manama 110, Kuwait City 119, Doha 121, and Muscat 122.

It has been shown that Hong Kong is still the most expensive city in the world; Singapore having been second in the list. Zurich, Geneva, and Basel make up the top five ranking cities in the according to Forbes. At the lowest end, Nigerian cities of Abuja and Lagos and Islamabad in Pakistan were considered the least costly to the multinational’s expatriate workers.