On the list of most expensive cities for expats in 2020 by consultancy firm Mercer, Brussels was ranked in place 78 on a list of 209 cities.
Belgium's capital dropped one place, from place 77 in 2019 in the ranking, which takes into account the cost of living, transport, food or leisure, among other things.
For the third year in a row, Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, followed by Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), with Tokyo (Japan) and Zurich (Switzerland) in third and fourth positions.
“The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage,” said Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy.
“Rather than bet on a dramatic resurgence of mobility, organisations should prepare for the redeployment of their mobile workforces, leading with empathy and understanding that not all expatriates will be ready or willing to go abroad," he added.
Other cities in the top 10 were Singapore (5th place), New York City (6), Shanghai (7), Bern (8), Geneva (9) and Beijing (10).
The world’s least expensive city for expats (ranked in 209th place), according to Mercer’s survey, is Tunis (Tunisia) for the second year in a row.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
