Glasgow gets more expensive while Aberdeen living costs drop, say new rankings

Glasgow was the only British city to see living costs rise in relation to other cities in an annual global ranking.

Living costs have dropped in Aberdeen compared to last year, say new rankings (Photo: Shutterstock)

Meanwhile, living costs in Aberdeen dropped down places in the rankings.

This means that for people living in the two cities, living costs have gone in opposite directions in relation to the rest of the world.

Aberdeen not as cheap as two years ago

Living costs have dropped in Aberdeen compared to last year, say new rankings (Photo: Shutterstock)

Aberdeen rose 18 places last year compared to 2017, and was listed close to cities such as Birmingham, but dropped three places to 137 this year.

Despite cost of living falling in Aberdeen, t’s still Scotland’s most expensive city.

Glasgow meanwhile saw a rise of three places with the city continuing its rise from 146th place in 2017.

Dundee and Edinburgh are not included in the rankings.

Hong Kong most expensive

Hong Kong has retained its place at the top of the table as the most expensive place to live in the world for a second year, beating fellow Asian cities Tokyo and Singapore into second and third.

The top European city is the Swiss banking hub of Zurich which sits fourth, while New York is in ninth place and at the top of the list for the US.

N’Djamena in Chad is the most expensive place to move to in Africa, while those with deep pockets in search of an island lifestyle could move to Victoria on the Seychelles, the 14th most expensive city.

London was ranked 23rd, down four places compared to 2018 and ranked below Dubai and Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) which were ranked 21st and 22nd respectively.

The cheapest three cities in the rankings are Karachi in Pakistan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, with Tunis in Tunisia the cheapest of all.

Rankings take into account price changes

The annual rankings from Mercer look at the cost of living and housing for employees of firms sent to work abroad.

The company produces the rankings in more than 200 of the most common cities for expatriate employees and show how changes in the value of currency and the cost of goods and services can impact how expensive a place is to live.