Cost of Living in India
Compared to the West

chillibreeze writer — Ankita Singh

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The Indian economy has been experiencing a recent boom with inflation and appreciation of the Indian currency, the rupee, against most major currencies, as corollaries. The over-all cost of living may have increased considerably within India but the change is certainly not a phenomenal one as Indian cities still occupy the lowest positions in the world rankings.

A 2007 Cost of Living Survey conducted by ECA International, a Hong-Kong based solutions provider for international HR management, revealed Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Bangalore to be occupying the 177th, 178th, 186th, 189th, 193rd, 194th, and 205th positions respectively in the world rankings.

On the other hand, in the Asian rankings the respective cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore are placed at the 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 30th, 31st, and 37th positions, respectively.

The survey corroborates Luanda as the most expensive city in the world. “The commodity boom in recent years has led to considerable currency appreciations in commodity-exporting markets such as Angola, making it an increasingly expensive location for expatriates,” said General Manager of ECA International (Hong Kong) Lee Quane.

Luanda is followed by Oslo, Moscow, Stavanger, Copenhagen, Geneva, London, St Petersburg, Zurich, Helsinki and Basel among the European locations. Goods and services in Norway, Denmark, and Switzerland have historically been expensive. Recently however, Moscow and St Petersburg have joined them at the top of the worldwide cost of living ranking with economic development driving up retail prices and a booming export market strengthening the local currency,” Quane commented.

Seoul is the costliest among the Asian locations followed by Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Hong Kong; they have world ranks of 7th, 13th, 18th, 27th, and 79th respectively.

It is important to note that ECA’s cost of living data compares a basket of 128 consumer goods and services commonly purchased by expatriates in over 300 locations worldwide; however, it does not consider certain living costs such as accommodation, utilities (electricity, gas , water, etc), car purchase and school fees which can play a pivotal part in determining expenses.

Most expensive cities worldwide

Rank Sept 07	Location	Country	Rank Sept 06
1	Luanda	ANGOLA	2
2	Osla	NORWAY	3
3	Moscow	RUSSIA	4
4	Stavanger	NORWAY	6
5	Copenhagen	DENMARK	7
6	Kinshasa	CONGO DEMOCRATIC REP.	5
7	Seoul	KOREA REPUBLIC	8
8	Limbreville	GABON	9
9	Geneva	SWITZERLAND	11
10	Central London	UNITED KINGDOM	17
11	St Petersburg	RUSSIA	14
12	Zurich	SWITZERLAND	12
13	Tokyo	JAPAN	10
14	Helsinki	FINLAND	19
15	Basel	SWITZERLAND	15
16	Abidjan	COTE D'IVOIRE	18
17	Dern	SWITZERLAND	16
18	Yokohama	JAPAN	13
19	Abuja	NIGERIA	32
20	Dakar	SENEGAL	22
21	Outer London	UNITED KINGDOM	30
22	Edinburgh	UNITED KINGDOM	31
23	Istanbul	TURKEY	54
24	Paris	FRANCE	23
25	Vienna	AUSTRALIA	25
26	Berlin	GERMANY	27
27	Kobe	JAPAN	20
28	Munich	GERMANY	24
29	Reading	UNITED KINGDOM	36
30	Starsbourg	FRANCE	26
31	Southampton	UNITED KINGDOM	37
32	Stockholm	SWEDEN	34
33	Rome	ITALY	39
34	Milan	ITALY	43
35	Dusseldorf	GERMANY	38
36	Brussels	BELGIUM	35
37	The Hague	NETHERLANDS	33
38	Birmingham	UNITED KINGDOM	44
39	Cardiff	UNITED KINGDOM	45
40	Norwich	UNITED KINGDOM	48
41	Ankara	TURKEY	71
42	Dublin	IRISH REPUBLIC	40
43	Gothenburg	SWEDEN	57
44	Manchester	UNITED KINGDOM	50
45	Frankfurt	GERMANY	42
46	Lagos	NIGERIA	47
47	Toulouse	FRANCE	41
48	Manhattan NY	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	28
49	Hamburg	GERMANY	53
50	Aberden	UNITED KINGDOM	64
51	Stuttgart	GERMANY	56
52	Honolulu HI	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	29
53	Jerusalem	ISRAEL	63
54	Lyon	FRANCE	55
55	Antwerp	BELGIUM	59

 

Asia 2007		City Country World 2008
1	Seol	KOREA REPUBLIC	7
2	Tokyo	JAPAN	13
3	Yokohama	JAPAN	18
4	Kobe	JAPAN	27
5	Hong Kong	HONG KONG	79
6	Taipel	TAIWAN	94
7	Beijing	CHINA	95
8	Shanghai	CHINA	100
9	Singapore	SINGAPORE	122
10	Guangzhou	CHINA	147
11	Jakarta	INDONESIA	153
12	Shenzhen	CHINA	156
13	Shenyang	CHINA	158
14	Qingdao	CHINA	159
15	Tianjin	CHINA	160
16	Dalian	CHINA	162
17	Chongqing	CHINA	166
18	Bangkok	THAILAND	168
19	Chengdu	CHINA	169
20	Suzhou	CHINA	171
21	Xi'an	CHINA	172
22	Wuhan	CHINA	175
23	Nanjing	CHINA	176
24	Mumbai	INDIA	177
25	New Delhi	INDIA	178
26	Xiamen	CHINA	182
27	Chennai	INDIA	186
28	Hyderabad	INDIA	189
29	Metro-Manila	PHILIPPINES	191
30	Kolkatta	INDIA	193
31	Pune	INDIA	194
32	Hanoi	VIETNAM	195
33	Kuala Lumpur	MALAYSIA	197
34	Vientiane	LAOS	198
35	Karachi	PAKISTAN	203
36	Ho Chi Minh City	VIETNAM	204
37	Bangalore	INDIA	205
38	Colombo	SRI LANKA	212
39	Islamabad	PAKISTAN	213

Another 2007 Cost of Living survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting, establishes Moscow as the costliest city in the world. Whereas, in the Quality of Living survey, Zurich and Geneva top the rankings, India does not figure anywhere in the top 50 in either of the surveys.

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Ankita writes for Chillibreeze.