Mercer which does a comprehensive world wide yearly cost of living survey released their 2011 Survey last month in July 2012.

SP rose from 21 in 2010 to 10 in 2011 and Rio from 29 in 2010 to 12 in the 2011 survey.

The survey uses NYC as the base city to compare other cities and takes into account currency changes against the USD. Note that this survey used March 2011 as the base month for currency and since March 2011 the dollar has strengthened against the real, however, inflation has been higher for goods in brazil than in the US since March 2011 so despite the weakening of the reals it is likely both cities will remain in the top 20 in the 2012 report that will be released next year. ("March 2011 exchange rates and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services have been used as basis measurements.")

For US cities NYC was 32, LA was 77 and SF 106.

Excerpts:
"The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. Is is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expatriates – plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked."

"Up 11 and 17 places in the ranking respectively, São Paolo (10) and Rio de Janeiro (12) are now the most expensive locations for expatriates in both North and South America. In South America, Brasilia (33) is the third most expensive city, up 37 places since last year’s ranking. High inflation on goods and services means Caracas in Venezuela has also shot up in the rankings, to rank 51 from 100 in 2010. Bolivia’s La Paz (212) and Nicaragua’s Managua (213) were the least expensive cities in South America.

"Inflation pressures continue to be the main impact on the cost of goods and services in Argentina and Venezuela, causing their cities to jump in the ranking. Overall, exchange rates in South America remain relatively stable, with the exception of local currencies in Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica which have all strengthened significantly against the US dollar, causing the region’s cities to rise in the ranking.” according to Ms Constantin-Métral."

Full ranking of the 214 cities is here: Mercer 2011 Cost of Living Survey


Edited by floripasurfer - 05 August 2012 at 14:30