亞洲最昂貴城市 香港排名第六

Living in Hong Kong just got a little pricier.

In a list of the world’s Most expensive cities for expatriates, Hong Kong rose to 32nd place from 52nd in 2009, according to a report released Thursday.

ECA International, a consultancy that works with 1,500 multinational corporations, collected cost-of-living data of 400 cities world-wide, the results of which are used to help determine cost-of-living allowances for its clients. Japanese cities dominated the top of the list, largely because of the yen’s strength: Tokyo cinched the title as the most expensive city, from third place in 2009. Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Luanda, Angola, the most expensive city last year, dropped to second this year.

The report takes into consideration food, clothing and drink expenses for its rankings, but not rent since companies typically offer a separate housing allowance, ECA said.

Overall, Asian cities rose in rankings with the strengthening of some of its currencies, including the Korean won, Singapore dollar, Thai baht and Japanese yen. About 70% of the 50 Asian cities surveyed rose in world-wide rankings compared with last year. But as Asian cities remained strong on the list, European cities took a hit because of the weakening euro. Paris, for instance, fell to 24th this year from 16th last year.

Looking at Asian cities, Hong Kong dropped to sixth most expensive city in the region, from fifth last year. Seoul moved up to fifth place from seventh, largely due to the won rebounding, said Lee Quane, ECA’s Asia-Pacific regional director.

Singapore, on the other hand, inched up right behind Hong Kong, ranking No. 8 in Asia and No. 42 world-wide. Hong Kong’s cost-of-living difference was 15% higher than Singapore’s in 2008; in 2010, the difference is 2%.

A 2009 ECA report found Hong Kong in the top ranking of most expensive housing costs. Monthly rent for a three-bedroom apartment in an expat neighborhood in 2009 cost about US$9,100, compared with US$7,500 in New York and US$6,000 in London.

So is Hong Kong still attractive to companies?

Yes, said Mr. Quane. “There are cheaper locations in Asia where people can set up regional headquarters,” he said. “But there’s a reason why companies are still moving staff and regional operations to Hong Kong. It’s got a market here.”香港的生活成本只是稍稍貴了一些。

一份週四公佈的報告顯示，對旅居海外的僑民來說，在世界上生活成本最昂貴的城市排名中，香港從2009年的52名上升至32名。

與1,500家跨國企業有合作關係的環球人力資源諮詢及顧問機構ECA International收集了世界上400個城市生活成本的數據，而調查結果可用來幫助其客戶確定應給員工發放多少生活補貼。日本城市在此次調查排名中高居榜首。東京從2009年的第三上升至第一，成爲世界上對海外僑民來說最昂貴的城市。名古屋、橫濱和神戶分別位居第三、第四和第五名。安哥拉首都羅安達去年是全球最貴城市，今年落後一位，屈居第二。

ECA表示，所調查的生活成本包括食物、服裝和飲料等花費，但不包括房租，因爲公司一般會爲員工提供單獨的住房津貼。

由於韓圓、新加坡元、泰銖和日圓等部分亞洲貨幣紛紛升值，因此亞洲城市在此次調查中的排名出現整體性上升。接受調查的50個亞洲城市中有約70%的排名較上年有所提升。不過在亞洲城市在排行榜上依然爲數衆多的同時，歐洲城市卻因爲歐元走軟而受到一定影響。巴黎從去年排名第16下跌至今年第24位。

ECA亞太區主管關禮廉(Lee Quane)說，若單看亞洲城市，香港從去年排名第五下跌一位，成爲亞洲地區第六大昂貴城市。首爾則從第七上升到第五，這在很大程度上得益於韓圓的反彈。

另外，新加坡緊隨香港之後，在亞洲最昂貴城市中排名第八，世界第42位。2008年，香港的生活成本比新加坡高出15%，而2010年僅高出2%。

ECA2009年報告顯示，香港的住房費用全球最高。2009年，香港僑民社區一個帶有三間臥室的公寓每月房租約9,100美元，同樣的公寓在紐約只有7,500美元，倫敦6,000美元。

如此說來，香港對企業而言還有吸引力嗎？

關禮廉說，吸引力是有的。他說，亞洲有生活成本較低的地方，可以在那些地方設立亞洲總部，但爲什麼還有公司仍不斷將員工和亞太業務帶到香港？因爲香港有市場。