The city of Durban as night falls. Picture: Unsplash
According to the 2024 Mercer Cost of Living Survey, South African cities, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg are affordable cities for overseas workers looking to move.
South Africa’s major economic hubs featured at the bottom of the 2024 cost of living city rankings meaning that for expats around the world, the cities qualify as attractive and affordable destinations.
“Mercer’s annual Cost of Living City Ranking provides valuable trends and insights for those who need to make informed decisions about global mobility operations and international assignees.
“The ranking lists 226 cities in the world in order, from the most expensive to the least expensive places to live,” said the report.
The report examined the cities based on the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Cape Town ranked 209th, Durban ranked (219th) and Johannesburg ranked (206th) in the survey of 226 cities.
The 10 most expensive cities on the list for expats include: Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich Switzerland, Geneva Switzerland, Basel Switzerland, Bern Switzerland, New York, London United Kingdom, Nassau The Bahamas and Los Angeles United States.
African cities that placed highest in the global Cost of Living City Ranking are Bangui Central African Republic (14th), Djibouti (18th) and N'Djamena Chad (21st). The least expensive cities in the region include Blantyre Malawi (221st), Lagos Nigeria (225th) and Abuja Nigeria (226th).