Amman ranks 94th on Mercer's Quality of Living Survey
Mercer's Quality of Living Survey for the year 2021 ranked Amman 94th globally in terms of the cost of living after ranking 71st the year before, which is a 23-spot improvement.
The capital tied with the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, in terms of the cost of living.
The Lebanese capital Beirut ranked third making it one of the most expensive countries to live in, with an unprecedented decline from last year when it ranked 45th. This means that Beirut climbed 42 spots in one year.
Ashgabat in Turkmenistan ranked first in the Mercer survey making it the most expensive city in the world, followed by Hong Kong in second place.
As for the top three cheapest cities in the world, they are Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, Lusaka in Zambia then Tbilisi in Georgia.
According to Mercer's official website, the survey's key insights were "Ashgabat tops this year’s list of most expensive cities for international employees, followed by Hong Kong and Beirut. The Lebanese capital city climbed 42 positions in the ranking as a result of the political turmoil of the last few years. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Port of Beirut explosion have all amplified the economic effects, causing record-high inflation."
It goes on "Compared to last year, Tokyo and Zurich each dropped one spot to fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Other cities in the top 10 of Mercer’s Cost of Living city ranking are Shangai (6), Singapore (7), Geneva (8), Beijing (9) and Bern (10). The world’s least expensive cities for international employees according to Mercer’s survey are Tbilisi (207), Lusaka (208) and Bishkek (209)."
As for the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, "According to Mercer’s 2020 Worldwide International Assignment Policies and Practices survey, high costs remain among the main obstacles to mobility. Companies are looking for opportunities to replace traditional long-term assignments with alternative, less costly forms of mobility, such as one-way transfers, short-term assignments and internationally/locally hired foreigners. They’re also trying out virtual assignments."
