This year, the economic trends of the past few years have reversed. In contrast to the global rise in costs last year, we are already seeing a general decline in the cost of living in the world’s major metropolises in 2024. As a result of this turnaround, the ranking of the most expensive cities has also changed considerably. So when a city shows a rise in rank, it does not always mean that the cost of living has increased. In this article, we would like to describe these changes and what they mean for the future in more detail.
We’ve used the latest statistics and trends from 2024 in this article to show you the most expensive cities and provide an overview of the various costs of living around the world.
These are the most expensive cities in the world in 2024
The Numbeo cost of living index
In previous years, we have relied on the Mercer study to bring you accurate data on the world’s most expensive cities. In this article, however, we base our ranking on Numbeo’s cost of living index, as no Mercer study for 2024 has been released yet, but Numbeo can still offer us up-to-date information. In the following, we would like to analyse the current year’s economic and cost of living trends in the most expensive cities. We take some of the largest cities from Numbeo’s ranking and analyse them in comparison to the previous year.
Development of some of the most expensive cities since 2023:
- Zurich (-)
- Lausanne (-)
- Geneva (↑3)
- New York (↑4)
- San Francisco (↑4)
- Honolulu (↑1)
- Los Angeles (↑35)
- Singapore (↓1)
- London (↑55)
- Hong Kong (↑8)
You can see straight away that there have been significant changes for each place in the top ranking since last year. According to Numbeo’s index, Los Angeles in the USA and London in the UK in particular have become much more expensive. Despite the high prices in these cities, they are extremely important economic metropolises. However, not all rises in rankings are directly linked to an increase in the cost of living. According to our research, the average index of the 15 most expensive cities in the world has fallen by 8% since last year.
Expats in Oslo, Norway, can enjoy a particularly large drop in the cost of living. The country’s capital was ranked 14th most expensive city in 2023 with an index of 93.5. Since 2024, however, the city’s economy has recovered and both locals and expats can live happily in this culturally rich city with strong social networks.
Most expensive cities in the world according to New World Health
To ensure that we don’t just rely on one source of information, let’s take a closer look at the data from New World Health for December 2023.
Top ranking for the beginning of 2024:
- Monaco (1.)
- New York City (2.)
- London (3.)
- Hong Kong (4.)
- Sydney (6.)
- Los Angeles (8.)
- Singapore (11.)
- Geneva (14.)
- Tokyo (19.)
- Lugano (20.)
This ranking by New World Health also features a similar list of the most expensive cities. Los Angeles and London are once again two of the world’s most expensive metropolises compared to cities in Germany, for example. In contrast, it can also be seen here that Switzerland has been able to reduce the cost of living in its largest cities considerably compared to the previous year. Zurich is therefore not on this list. Switzerland is a technologically and economically advanced country with beautiful nature and a rich culture. If you are an expat who has been unsure about moving to Switzerland due to the high cost of living, you have a great opportunity to do so in 2024.
What expats should consider when it comes to healthcare systems in 2024
Whilst the cost of living in some of the most expensive cities has fallen this year, there can still be significant costs associated with utilising healthcare systems. The USA still leads the way as the country with the highest healthcare expenditure. Switzerland and Norway follow closely behind. Countries such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, Germany and the Netherlands are also plagued by high healthcare costs, which doesn’t exactly make life any easier, especially for expats living in an urban area. By healthcare costs, we mean the high prices of medication, hospitalisation, doctor visits and private health insurance.
Expats who want to move to these countries with expensive healthcare systems should therefore inform themselves in advance about the costs involved. Carry out detailed research on healthcare costs and health insurance in your destination country to avoid any unexpected surprises. Some countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Mexico also offer very favourable healthcare systems and the cost of living in general. Which country you ultimately choose to move to as an expat should therefore be based not only on the cost of living, but also on healthcare costs.
Foyer Global Health as a reliable partner for international health insurance
Foyer Global Health is a subsidiary of the renowned Foyer Group from Luxembourg, which specialises in health insurance for expats. The specialist company has experts with in-depth knowledge of international health insurance, available to help you find and choose the right health solution as an expat. Take a no-obligation look at some of our various health insurance cover options to find exactly what you need as an expat. Become part of a worldwide partner network with helpful services for the exact country you want to live in as an expat by choosing Foyer Global Health.
Discover some of these countries!
Find below some country guides related to the countries mentioned in this blog post 😉
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