MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is currently racing with its neighboring cities in terms of high cost of living after it placed fifth in the recently released Mercer 2024 Cost of Living Survey.
Cities including Hong Kong, Singapore, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Manila, and Jakarta are among the cities with high costs of living across Southeast Asia.
Manila’s ranking slightly increased compared to the 133rd world rank it clinched from the previous year. This only means that the city’s cost of living has risen in 2024 compared to its 2023 cost of living condition.
Of the 226 cities the consulting firm surveyed, Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, New York City, London, Nassau, and Los Angeles are the top 10 most expensive cities worldwide.
Meanwhile, some of the least expensive cities surveyed by the firm include Havana, Windhoek, Durban, Dushanbe, Blantyre, Karachi, Bishek, Islamabad, Lagos, and Abuja.
According to the report, Switzerland has four of the 10 most costly cities in the world for foreign assignees, with half of them being in Western Europe. Though Hong Kong and Singapore continue to hold the top two spots, respectively, Southeast Asian cities top the list. Lagos (225) and Abuja (226), both in Nigeria (on the African continent), are the two most affordable cities in the world.
It added that several factors including inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, and increasing economic and geopolitical tensions influenced the increasing cost of living in these cities.
“Heightened economic and geopolitical volatility, as well as local conflicts and emergencies, have led to additional expenses in areas such as housing, utilities, local taxes and education,” it said.
In the case of the Philippines, despite recording a decelerated 5.4 percent inflation rate and a slowdown in food inflation, its lowest rate in 15 months, several consumers continue to bear the brunt of increasing prices of basic commodities.
Meanwhile, pump prices are also set to increase this week. Unioil advised over the weekend that fuel prices are expected to increase from June 25 to July 1. According to the advisory, the price of diesel per liter could increase from P1.70 to P1.90.
However, the price of gasoline could increase by P1.10 to P1.30 per liter. Significant price increases were also indicated by the DOE’s projections.
As per the DOE forecast, fuel prices could rise by P0.85 to P1.15 per liter.
