Expat rent prices
2024 Worldwide city ranking
Ranking
EuroCost International publishes its new worldwide ranking of rents paid by expats.
Although expat housing conditions can vary a lot from one country to another, EuroCost International publishes a yearly worldwide ranking based on a specific type of housing.
This ranking is based on a panel of two- and three-bedroom flats (average prices converted into euros, reference date December 2023).
Key points
- During 2023, global inflation clearly pushed up rents worldwide, but it did not significantly impact our global ranking.
- As a direct consequence of a certain homogeneity in international inflationary movements, the Top 10 of the world ranking has not been substantially modified despite a few crossover and Moscow's exit from the Top 10.
- Unsurprisingly, Kyiv is falling in our rankings despite the end of the downward trend in its rents.
- It is clear that continued inflation and still-high interest rates will continue to fuel the upward momentum in rents in 2024.
The most expensive cities in the world
The world generally suffered high inflation in 2023, which impacted the rental market for housing usually occupied by expatriates. This was therefore naturally part of an overall upward trend. However, the hierarchies have not been disrupted and our rankings have remained relatively stable.
Moscow notwithstanding, the Top 10 is made up of the same cities as last year. New York remains in the lead, followed by London, which moves ahead Hong Kong now in 3rd position.
Singapore gains 2 positions, taking 4th place from Tokyo which finds itself in 5th position. Miami goes down to 6th place, followed by Geneva, which gains 1 place. We then find San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington in 8th, 9th and 10th place respectively.
Zurich recovers the places it lost the previous year and moves up to 11th position, followed by Boston in 12th place. Moscow, which lost 3 places, now occupies 13th position.
Chicago keeps its 14th place, followed in 15th position by our new city Atlanta, which for its first introduction in our ranking enters the Top 20. Indeed, the economic growth of Atlanta has been in recent years well above the average of American cities. This performance and its economic attractiveness motivated its introduction in our panel.
Luanda, the first African city in the Top 20, nevertheless lost 4 places and dropped to 16th place, followed by Vancouver, which rose 11 places and thus made its return to this Top 20.
Sydney drops to 18th place, followed by Bangui, the second African city. Amsterdam closes this ranking in 20th place.
Rents are expected to continue their upward trend in 2024. Indeed, generally speaking, to counter inflation, interest rates have had to be raised. This increase in interest rates, added to inflation itself, has had a strong impact on the real estate sector, both for new construction and major renovations. However, it should not be forgotten that the correlation between construction costs and the level of rents is generally delayed over time. Consequently, it is very likely that rents will continue their upward trend in 2024, even if interest rates and inflation begin to decrease.
Regional highlights
Africa
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Africa remains underrepresented in the world ranking of the most expensive cities but it should be remembered that in many African countries, expats prefer to opt for a villa rather than a flat. That is why several countries do not appear in this "Apartments" ranking whereas housing costs may be very high for expats. As usual, Luanda keeps the first place, but loses 4 places in the world ranking. Bangui takes 2nd position and gains 2 places in the world ranking. Juba follows in 3rd position and enters this Top 5 by gaining 3 places. Accra remains in the leading group by occupying 4th place. Accustomed to this top 5 Kinshasa brings up the rear.
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The Americas
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The North American continent is moving up in the world ranking with 9 cities in the Top 20. It still holds the 10 places in our regional ranking, the latter having remained very stable for several years. It should be noted that these cities are mainly large cities in the United States (New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta, ou new entrant). Vancouver moves from 10th to 9th place, leaving the bottom of this North American Top 10 to Mexico City, which loses 2 places and brings up the rear of this regional ranking.
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Asia-Oceania
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There are few changes in this regional ranking, where nine of the ten cities from last year are still there. Hong Kong, which remains the most expensive city in the region, is ahead of Singapore and Tokyo, which have reverse their positions. Sydney, Shanghai and Beijing follow, maintaining their rank. Similarly, Seoul remains in 7th position, still followed by Taipei, which keeps its 8th place. Mumbai maintains its position in 9th place. But this year, it is Manila that re-enters and closes this regional ranking in 10th position.
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Europe
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This European regional ranking is almost identical to that of last year. In fact, we find 9 of the 10 cities from the previous ranking. London, unbeatable, still holds the first place, followed by Geneva, Zurich and Moscow. Next comes Amsterdam in 5th place, followed by Lausanne and Dublin in 6th and 7th positions respectively. Paris remains in 8th place. Copenhagen gains 1 place, but it is Milan that joins and closes this European Top 10 in place of Kyiv, which unsurprisingly has lost several positions.
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Middle East
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The Middle East regional ranking also remained fairly stable with Tel Aviv still in the lead followed by Doha in 2nd place. Dubai and Istanbul have reversed their positions and are now in third and fourth place respectively. Riyadh gains one position which allows it to join this Top 5 by closing it.
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Our methodology: specific expat surveys
This ranking is only a particular angle of view on the rental market for expatriates. Our housing surveys, for their part, provide a much more precise view of the rental market for each city surveyed.
EuroCost International data reflect the local rental market for expats, and therefore differ from the local rental market, in terms of price levels as well as movements.
Areas selected for our surveys are residential areas frequented by expats.
We collect prices for different types of housing, from studios to large detached houses, but these can be adapted to the specific features of each country. In a country where all expats live in houses, our survey will only report house prices.
All dwellings considered range from good to very good quality to ensure that expats benefit from comfortable living conditions.
Prices are collected in the currency used for the payment of rent (very often US dollars or euros, rather than the local currency).
Housing is a crucial element for expatriation; therefore many companies seriously consider their expats' living conditions.
Our rent surveys are usually provided separately from the cost of living index, in order to fully meet the needs of our customers, although rent prices can be included in our indices.