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Cost of Living
In Dubai has skyrocketed! I thought rents were coming down? From 7days.
Dubai jumped 44 places from last year to be ranked 23rd while Abu Dhabi rose 35 places to 33rd.
Mercer’s 2015 Cost of Living Survey placed Luanda in Angola – which has experienced a dramatic oil boom – in first, followed by Hong Kong, Zurich and Singapore.
Mercer said the move has largely been linked to a fluctuation of the euro and dollar, which the dirham is linked to, but also rising rent.
It said Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the most expensive cities in the Middle East for expatriates. Doha – which was 99th in the world – jumped 59 places in a single year.
Nuno Gomes, an information solutions leader at global consultancy Mercer, said: “Many currencies in the Middle East are pegged to the US dollar, which pushed the cities up in the ranking.”
But Nunes added: “Steep increases for expatriate rental accommodation, particularly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has also contributed to the increase in the ranking.”
He said Dubai has witnessed an average rent rise of 10-20 per cent over the past year.
The survey measured 207 cities looked at the cost of more than 200 items, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
British expat Lynsey Reynolds, 29, who works in energy, pays almost Dhs80,000 a year for a one bed apartment in Al Garhoud – but said the previous tenant said she paid Dhs65,000.
She said the hike was introduced in between the tenant moving out and she and her husband moving in.
Reynolds said: “Basic goods cost a lot too, whether it’s pasta sauce, cheese or meats.
“But the cost of getting around in taxis or on the metro is much cheaper than in London for example.”
And fellow Brit Annie Turnell, 25, said she found Dubai “more expensive” than both Sydney, Australia, where she lived previously, and her home country of England.
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