Seoul becomes world's ninth most expensive city to live for foreign people: study

[Gettyimages Bank]

SEOUL -- Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, has become the world's ninth most expensive city to live for foreigners, a study by a global expatriate information and data analysis and consulting firm showed. New York dethroned Hong Kong to become the world's highest cost of living for expatriates.

According to a study of 207 cities in 120 countries across the world, conducted by ECA International in March 2023, Seoul was ranked ninth in 2023's Cost of Living Rankings, up a step from last year's tenth place. Since the beginning of 2022, South Korea has suffered from steep inflation rates of about five percent. The cost of living greatly increased due to increased fuel prices and basic groceries as well as food ingredients.

Tokyo, which was ranked fifth in the 2022's list, came down to tenth place because the value of the yen has decreased over a year. Hong Kong stepped down from the first place for the first time in four years because housing prices have decreased. Geneva and London took third and fourth place, respectably, and Singapore entered the top ten group in fifth place from last year's 15th place.

According to data released by South Korea's Prime Minister's Office, a monthly average income of at least 2,470,000 ($1,892) should be maintained for a single-person household to cherish a normal life. About 1.6 million won was spent monthly on living expenses including food and rent.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Seoul becomes world's ninth most expensive city to live for foreign people: study

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