Shanghai No Longer Most Expensive City for Expats in Asia

By Bridget O'Donnell

Shanghairen (and expats around China, for that matter) can breath a sigh of relief... for now.

In case you missed it, the Pearl of the Orient topped the 2015 list of ECA International's most expensive cities for expats in the Asia-Pacific region, with Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen falling close behind.

This year, Shanghai dropped a few spots on the list to #13 overall (and #6 in the APAC region). In contrast, it was #7 overall last year, making it the top Asian city on the list.

Meanwhile, Japanese cities dominated this year's list, with Tokyo taking the #1 spot overall, followed by Yokohama (#5), Nagoya (#7) and Osaka (#9). Shanghai also fell behind Hong Kong (#11) and Seoul (#12).

Beijing was close behind at #15 (#7 in Asia), slipping from #8 overall last year.

Down south, Guangdong's major cities also dropped in the rankings, with Guangzhou coming in at #11 in Asia (down from #6 last year), and Shenzhen at #14 in the region (down from #7 in 2015).

Ten cities in the Chinese mainland managed to land in the top 20. Macau (#13) and Taipei (#15) also made it into the top 20.

Here's a look at the 20 most expensive Asian cities for expats in 2016.

#20: Tianjin
2015 ranking: #20

#19: Suzhou
2015 ranking: #16

#18: Nanjing

2015 ranking: #19

#17: Chengdu

2015 ranking: #18

#16: Dalian

2015 ranking: #14

#15: Dalian

2015 ranking: #26

#14: Shenzhen

2015 ranking: #7

#13: Macau

2015 ranking: #13

#12: Ulsan

2015 ranking: #17

#11: Guangzhou

2015 ranking: #6

#10: Busan

2015 ranking: #10

#9: Busan

2015 ranking: #8

#8: Beijing

2015 ranking: #2

#7: Shanghai

2015 ranking: #1

#6: Seoul

2015 ranking: #4

#5: Hong Kong

2015 ranking: #3

#4: Osaka

2015 ranking: #15

#3: Nagoya

2015 ranking: #12

#2: Yokohama

2015 ranking: #11

#1: Tokyo

2015 ranking: #5

[Images via ECA International, Skyscraper Page]

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