Loan me some Yens - Japan is Expensive

June 19, 2007 on 3:19 pm | In Society | | Email This Post

CNN is running an article ranking the worlds most expensive cities as calculated by Mercer.

Here are the top 10 in order of wallet draining power.

World’s most expensive cities 2007

  1. Moscow
  2. London
  3. Seoul
  4. Tokyo
  5. Hong Kong
  6. Copenhagen
  7. Geneva
  8. Osaka
  9. Zurich
  10. Oslo

Look, two of the top 10 are in Japan! Go Osaka!

It surprised me that Moscow was number one however. I have never been to Moscow, but I imagined that it would be a low country.

I’m not sure though, part of the article makes it seem like the “cost of of living” in these countries is purely from an expat American perspective. Which I assume means that they would need posh housing in safe districts with access to Western food and what not. So, in Tokyo’s case, me and the ratty 50000 yen per month apartment I was living in up until a few weeks ago probably wouldn’t count (Okay, so technically I was in Yokohama…). We’re talking about the clubbing-every-night-living-in-Roppongi-hills tribe I imagine.

Still, in 2004, the top 10 looked like this…

World’s most expensive cities 2004

  1. Tokyo, Japan
  2. London, UK
  3. Moscow, Russia
  4. Osaka, Japan
  5. Hong Kong
  6. Geneva, Switzerland
  7. Seoul, South Korea
  8. Copenhagen, Denmark
  9. Zürich, Switzerland
  10. St. Petersburg, Russia

Things that strike me… Tokyo has been overtaken by Seoul. New York is not on either list. I would always, apparently incorrectly say that the most expensive cities in the world were Tokyo, London and New York City.

なるほど〜　へぇぇぇぇぇ〜〜〜〜〜。

Anyway. If you’re in Japan, and want to save money. Don’t buy your food and socks at convenience stores. Especially convenience stores with Sumo gangs hanging around out front.

It’s cheaper at Jusco.

- Harvey

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9 Comments »

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  1. Gravatar

    These things are always flawed, looked at by expats who can’t live without using English. If you live “like a Japanese person” in Japan, or “like a Korean person” in Seoul, then you can get by much cheaper, perhaps even cheaper than back home. I can save a lot more money living in Seoul or Tokyo than I can in San Diego, for example.

    These polls look at things like Mac and Cheese and see the price of $3 USD and think, “Damn, this place is expensive!” But, if you get the Korean equivalent of Mac and Cheese (Ddoekpokgi - Oden, mochi, and hard boiled egg bits in a spicy red sauce) you can a huge bowl of it freshly cooked on the street for $1 USD.

    I think the title of the research should be “The most expensive cities in the world for expats who can’t do anything without the comfort of things exactly the way that they were back at home.”

    Comment by Alex — June 19, 2007 #

  2. Gravatar

    I also don’t put too much stock in these lists, especially the specific ranking. If memory serves me Oslo was #1 last year on one list I saw and now it’s #10?

    Comment by Kitty — June 19, 2007 #

  3. Gravatar

    More to the ex-pat note, if they take in account that these non-adapting expats have kids, and have to send them to international/American schools with their US college level tuitions from grad school level… I can see how the lists could get out of whack.

    It seems Oslo was 10 last year too Kitty. Hey check out this table. It compares this year and last year.

    http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html

    Interesting note at the bottom too.

    “The information is used by governments and major companies to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferred abroad. “

    Comment by harvey — June 19, 2007 #

  4. Gravatar

    To Harvey: “The information is used by governments and major companies to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferred abroad. “

    This is indeed how it works and is called the COLA: Cost Of Living Allowance. Corporations use these lists to adapt the salaries of the expats they send abroad. For example, suppose the hometown of an expat has an index of 95 and the city he will be transferred to has 110, then his salary get multiplied by (110/95). The refinement that is sometimes used is that in the hometown it is first estimated what percentage of the current salary is used for cost of living and only that percentage gets corrected using this factor. Which in theory means that the money the expat has left over for savings stays the same after transfer abroad.
    I agree with the posters above that the way this index is calculated is under the assumption that the person wants to buy exactly the same things in both cities, thus stays “alienated” and not “go local”.

    Comment by J. — June 19, 2007 #

  5. Gravatar

    J, yeah, I was impacted by the COLA when I was working in France. When I was working in Japan, I was a local hire, so I didn’t get any of the benefits an American expat would have. Too bad.

    Comment by harvey — June 20, 2007 #

  6. Gravatar

    I put little stock in this list, no New York, No San Fransico, No San Diego… not even on the list…please.

    Comment by zen — June 20, 2007 #

  7. Gravatar

    Two of my Tokyo friends who have relocated to New York keep complaining to me about how expensive NY is compared to home. They feel incredulous whenever someone says, “Oh, you’re from Tokyo? Isn’t it really expensive there?”

    Comment by Michael — June 23, 2007 #

  8. Gravatar

    US cities are a lot cheaper, internationally speaking, in recent years because of the dropping US dollar. They’re not really any cheaper for those living there full-time.
    And a new city always seems more expensive for visitors and new residents. A New Yorker moving to Tokyo might feel the same way. But it’s true that Tokyo, and Japan in general, isn’t as absurdly expensive as some people are led to believe. They hear about $100+ Yubari melons and think people are spending this much on breakfast.

    Comment by bingobangoboy — June 23, 2007 #

  9. Gravatar

    London and Tokyo will continue to stay in the top ten most expensive cities in the world as long as they continue to hold their postion in the world financial markets.

    Comment by Homes in London — July 31, 2007 #

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