Dhaka costlier than Washington for expats, costliest in S Asia

[Bilal9]

Despite dropping 14 positions in a year, the city remains expensive

Dhaka has become the world's 40th most expensive city for international employees to live in and is costlier than Washington, according to this year's Mercer Cost of Living Survey.

It was the 26th most expensive city in the world last year.

Despite dropping 14 places in a year, the city is still costlier for overseas workers to live in than some of the most developed ones in the world. Toronto ranked 98th on the list, Madrid 67th, Luxembourg 63rd, Washington 51st, Bangkok 46th, and Dubai 42nd.

Moreover, the Bangladesh capital was again named the most expensive city in South Asia on the list, followed by Mumbai (78th), New Delhi (117th), Islamabad (199th), and Karachi (201st).

Golam Rahman, president of Consumers' Association of Bangladesh, said land prices and construction costs are very high in Dhaka, which pushes up rent a lot.

This makes the city expensive for international employees to live in, he said.

He said most of what foreigners consume are imported from Europe and duty or tax on those goods are high in Bangladesh, which also makes living here expensive.

"Car import duties are high, which makes private transportations expensive. Terrible traffic jams and high levels of air pollution also add to costs."

He said Dhaka being expensive for expats negatively impacts foreign investment.

Dhaka is not a durable city at all, said Rahman.

"There is a saying that foreigners cry before coming to Dhaka. But when they leave, they also cry because they have already fallen in love with our culture," he laughed.

He added, "If we want to attract international employees here, we need to focus on their cost of living so that it would be affordable for them."

Released on Tuesday, Mercer's annual report titled "2021 Cost of Living City Ranking" ranked 209 cities based on the comparative cost of expenses of more than 200 goods and services, including housing, transportation, food, home services, clothing, and entertainment. The New York City was the baseline for the comparison.

The cost comparisons were derived from the survey conducted in March this year.

The report found Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat is the most expensive city for international employees, pushing Hong Kong to second place.

Beirut ranked third, climbing 42 positions up the ranking as a result of a severe and extensive economic depression due to the escalation of several crises, including the country's largest financial crisis, Covid-19, and the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion.

More than half of the top 10 most expensive cities are located in Asia – Ashgabat (1st), Hong Kong (2nd), Tokyo (4th), Shanghai (6th), Singapore (7th), and Beijing (9th).

On the other hand, the world's least expensive cities for international employees are Tbilisi (207th), Lusaka (208th), and Bishkek (209th).

"The cost of living has always been a factor for international mobility planning, but the pandemic has added a whole new layer of complexity, as well as long-term implications related to health and safety of employees, remote working and flexibility policies, among other considerations," said Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy Ilya Bonic.

"As organisations rethink their talent and mobility strategies, accurate and transparent data is essential to compensate employees fairly for all types of assignments," he added.

 

[itsanufy]

Despite dropping 14 positions in a year, the city remains expensive

Dhaka has become the world's 40th most expensive city for international employees to live in and is costlier than Washington, according to this year's Mercer Cost of Living Survey.

It was the 26th most expensive city in the world last year.

Despite dropping 14 places in a year, the city is still costlier for overseas workers to live in than some of the most developed ones in the world. Toronto ranked 98th on the list, Madrid 67th, Luxembourg 63rd, Washington 51st, Bangkok 46th, and Dubai 42nd.

Moreover, the Bangladesh capital was again named the most expensive city in South Asia on the list, followed by Mumbai (78th), New Delhi (117th), Islamabad (199th), and Karachi (201st).

Golam Rahman, president of Consumers' Association of Bangladesh, said land prices and construction costs are very high in Dhaka, which pushes up rent a lot.

This makes the city expensive for international employees to live in, he said.

He said most of what foreigners consume are imported from Europe and duty or tax on those goods are high in Bangladesh, which also makes living here expensive.

"Car import duties are high, which makes private transportations expensive. Terrible traffic jams and high levels of air pollution also add to costs."

He said Dhaka being expensive for expats negatively impacts foreign investment.

Dhaka is not a durable city at all, said Rahman.

"There is a saying that foreigners cry before coming to Dhaka. But when they leave, they also cry because they have already fallen in love with our culture," he laughed.

He added, "If we want to attract international employees here, we need to focus on their cost of living so that it would be affordable for them."

Released on Tuesday, Mercer's annual report titled "2021 Cost of Living City Ranking" ranked 209 cities based on the comparative cost of expenses of more than 200 goods and services, including housing, transportation, food, home services, clothing, and entertainment. The New York City was the baseline for the comparison.

The cost comparisons were derived from the survey conducted in March this year.

The report found Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat is the most expensive city for international employees, pushing Hong Kong to second place.

Beirut ranked third, climbing 42 positions up the ranking as a result of a severe and extensive economic depression due to the escalation of several crises, including the country's largest financial crisis, Covid-19, and the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion.

More than half of the top 10 most expensive cities are located in Asia – Ashgabat (1st), Hong Kong (2nd), Tokyo (4th), Shanghai (6th), Singapore (7th), and Beijing (9th).

On the other hand, the world's least expensive cities for international employees are Tbilisi (207th), Lusaka (208th), and Bishkek (209th).

"The cost of living has always been a factor for international mobility planning, but the pandemic has added a whole new layer of complexity, as well as long-term implications related to health and safety of employees, remote working and flexibility policies, among other considerations," said Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy Ilya Bonic.

"As organisations rethink their talent and mobility strategies, accurate and transparent data is essential to compensate employees fairly for all types of assignments," he added.

It takes in account old Dhaka?

But this is a last parameter to be proud about.

Whatever one says, Dhaka is the least livable city I have visted IMO. Compared Chattagram is a heaven and one of the best cities I have visited.

 

[Bilal9]

It takes in account old Dhaka?

But this is a last parameter to be proud about.

Whatever one says, Dhaka is the least livable city I have visted IMO. Compared Chattagram is a heaven and one of the best cities I have visited.

Bhalo na lagley aishen na Dada. Walaikum Tafat.

 

[Maira La]

Dhaka is the least livable city I have visted IMO.

Depends where in Dhaka you lived. If you stayed in some cheap neighborhood you have my sympathies.

 

[bluesky]

Despite dropping 14 positions in a year, the city remains expensive

A long time ago I visited Lagos and Enugu of Nigeria two times on my labor job and It surprised me to see the food prices in the restaurants are more expensive than in Tokyo. Even with oil money, Nigeria was/ is a poor country without much industrialization.

Nigeria was awash with inflation money that its govt used to say was the symbol of development. This is the same with Dhaka. Everything is becoming expensive because of too much monetary inflation that our leaders say is the symbol of great economic development when industrialization is absent.

Do the prices in Dhaka say BD is a developed country like Japan when Dhaka is more expensive than even Tokyo?

 

[Bilal9]

A long time ago I visited Lagos and Enugu of Nigeria two times on my labor job and It surprised me to see the food prices in the restaurants are more expensive than in Tokyo. Even with oil money, Nigeria was/ is a poor country without much industrialization.

Nigeria was awash with inflation money that its govt used to say was the symbol of development. This is the same with Dhaka. Everything is becoming expensive because of too much monetary inflation that our leaders say is the symbol of great economic development when industrialization is absent.

Do the prices in Dhaka say BD is a developed country like Japan when Dhaka is more expensive than even Tokyo?

It's just that there is too much Black money available and real estate and cars (both are in short supply and overpriced). So that is the end result.

At the end of the day, all due to govt. policy (or rather, lack of it).

 

[bluesky]

It's just that there is too much Black money available and real estate and cars (both are in short supply and overpriced). So that is the end result.

At the end of the day, all due to govt. policy (or rather, lack of it).

Yes, black money is predominant in BD that causes inflation of the prices of fixed assets as well as daily necessities, the latter because the market reacts when too much money is in circulation regardless of how many hands are holding this money.

The rate of tax revenue is only 9.3% of the GDP. In Nepal, it is more than 30%. So, it proves that the govt has not been able to put in place a system to collect the due amount of taxes from the rich people.

I have read many in this Forum think the rich should voluntarily pay taxes. No, it is the other way. It is the govt that should set up a system whereby every rich citizen with fixed assets or conducting businesses, is forced to submit income tax returns and pay taxes.

A country's economy can only be as strong as its taxation system.

 

[Michael Corleone]

It takes in account old Dhaka?

But this is a last parameter to be proud about.

Whatever one says, Dhaka is the least livable city I have visted IMO. Compared Chattagram is a heaven and one of the best cities I have visited.

Dhaka was first destroyed by the British then the Pakistanis then bangladeshis. No urban planning, overloaded infrastructure and centralization has ruined the city. The city I live in ukraine is nothing to be proud of, but definitely way better than Dhaka.
dhaka is a good city if you’re ultra rich though. Some parts of the city puts developed countries city to shame. Ofc all are restricted to regular folks.

 

[Destranator]

Dhaka is expensive for all the wrong reasons from overpopulation to lack of urban planning.
I have said this before and I say it again, the only way to save Dhaka from itself is decentralisation.

 

[Species]

Dhaka was first destroyed by the British then the Pakistanis then bangladeshis. No urban planning, overloaded infrastructure and centralization has ruined the city. The city I live in ukraine is nothing to be proud of, but definitely way better than Dhaka.
dhaka is a good city if you’re ultra rich though. Some parts of the city puts developed countries city to shame. Ofc all are restricted to regular folks.

Up until 1990s, Dhaka's infrastructure was quite ahead than the rest of South Asia. The newly built Kurmitola Airport (Zia International Airport as it was called then) in the early 80s was the most modern in the region, so much that Dhaka became a transit hub for many passengers travelling between East Asia and Europe.

The problem is, while other countries invested heavily on urban infrastructural development, Dhaka stagnated, probably because rural development was prioritized in Bangladesh since the 1990s. It is also a little unfair to compare Dhaka with other cities to be honest, the challenges faced by Dhaka is enormous. Still though, Dhaka remains ahead on economic/financial terms than other South Asian cities, barring Mumbai.

On topic: This shouldn't be a surprise. Check the rankings, Dhaka stands at 40 while Kolkata at 181. Now you know why people flock to India for shopping or medical treatment. It is far more cheaper for someone say from Satkhira to travel to Kolkata, stay there for a week, get treated and do some shopping than doing the same things in Dhaka.

 

[Paul2]

A long time ago I visited Lagos and Enugu of Nigeria two times on my labor job and It surprised me to see the food prices in the restaurants are more expensive than in Tokyo. Even with oil money, Nigeria was/ is a poor country without much industrialization.

Nigeria was awash with inflation money that its govt used to say was the symbol of development. This is the same with Dhaka. Everything is becoming expensive because of too much monetary inflation that our leaders say is the symbol of great economic development when industrialization is absent.

Do the prices in Dhaka say BD is a developed country like Japan when Dhaka is more expensive than even Tokyo?

I worked in Nigeria too for a few months on automatics for an oil refinery project.

Client paid for accommodation, and we always ate on campus. DT fancy places in Lagos are freaking expensive, despite nearly nobody there. Alternatives are eateries so horrid, that even local poor opt to not eat there.

Only rich expats, and local nouveau riches. Everybody else as I understood eats at home.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

It takes in account old Dhaka?

But this is a last parameter to be proud about.

Whatever one says, Dhaka is the least livable city I have visted IMO. Compared Chattagram is a heaven and one of the best cities I have visited.

Nobody is feeling proud here. But we need to remember that, this cost of living is for the western expats, not the ordinary citizen of Bangladesh living in Dhaka. A western expat need personal automobile(BMW, Volkswagen) and he need to sip on foreign quality wine at morning and evening, he also need to visit night clubs. Now this is were Dhaka is not good at. Personal automobile is prohibitively expensive in Bangladesh, by the factor of 4 or 5 of price in western countries. Wine is even more expensive, like 10 times the normal price. Night club rarely exist in Dhaka only in the diplomatic zone, again very expensive. These three item is more than enough to screw Dhaka is any cost of living comparison.

But if you can live likes a local, Dhaka is not that expensive. Dhaka's rent price is lower, dining and restaurants price is cheaper than major Indian cities bar probably Kolkata. Grocery price is comparable, clothes, shoes are cheaper. You will need less money in Dhaka to pursue higher education for yourself or admitting your children to quality schools. So it depends on who are spending here and what are the requirements.

 

[bluesky]

I worked in Nigeria too for a few months on automatics for an oil refinery project.

Client paid for accommodation, and we always ate on campus. DT fancy places in Lagos are freaking expensive, despite nearly nobody there. Alternatives are eateries so horrid, that even local poor opt to not eat there.

Only rich expats, and local nouveau riches. Everybody else as I understood eats at home.

BD is also going through a similar phenomenon that I saw about 25 years ago Nigeria was facing. I think Nigeria remains the same as it was before. All because of oil money that was not used to build industries where people can get jobs and produce consumer goods.

Lagos has large roads, highways, and ports that it built with oil money and the contractors were then all from Europe. Even Nigeria at that time did not have an Engineering College. As these were not built by Nigerian people themselves, they did not quite understand how to do maintenance works for any of those facilities.

I saw the drainage system does not work. The Traffic light system exists but does not function. People with a big body would stare hard towards another with a small body or cheap car and the latter would wait and allow the other to move.

I saw the common people were poor, but restaurant foods and land properties expensive. By watching Bangladesh, I have a feeling that BD is also following the wrong path of depending upon others for money and technologies as Nigeria or Pakistan did or doing.

 

[Michael Corleone]

Up until 1990s, Dhaka's infrastructure was quite ahead than the rest of South Asia. The newly built Kurmitola Airport (Zia International Airport as it was called then) in the early 80s was the most modern in the region, so much that Dhaka became a transit hub for many passengers travelling between East Asia and Europe.

The problem is, while other countries invested heavily on urban infrastructural development, Dhaka stagnated, probably because rural development was prioritized in Bangladesh since the 1990s. It is also a little unfair to compare Dhaka with other cities to be honest, the challenges faced by Dhaka is enormous. Still though, Dhaka remains ahead on economic/financial terms than other South Asian cities, barring Mumbai.

On topic: This shouldn't be a surprise. Check the rankings, Dhaka stands at 40 while Kolkata at 181. Now you know why people flock to India for shopping or medical treatment. It is far more cheaper for someone say from Satkhira to travel to Kolkata, stay there for a week, get treated and do some shopping than doing the same things in Dhaka.

the airport was designed by the french and after becoming aware of the fact i observed the airport design on my last visit... truth be told most of the original design was removed or not taken of... as you can see the light fixtures in baggage collection and immigration department... all the chrome fixtures is not period correct...

yes i think you're right but also don't forget the corruption decades pre 2008 those corruption levels were on a different level

makes sense... dhaka is just not worth travelling to and spending so much for so little in return

 

[Bilal9]

Yes, black money is predominant in BD that causes inflation of the prices of fixed assets as well as daily necessities, the latter because the market reacts when too much money is in circulation regardless of how many hands are holding this money.

The rate of tax revenue is only 9.3% of the GDP. In Nepal, it is more than 30%. So, it proves that the govt has not been able to put in place a system to collect the due amount of taxes from the rich people.

I have read many in this Forum think the rich should voluntarily pay taxes. No, it is the other way. It is the govt that should set up a system whereby every rich citizen with fixed assets or conducting businesses, is forced to submit income tax returns and pay taxes.

A country's economy can only be as strong as its taxation system.

@bluesky bhai Black Money white korar babostha korsey. Stock Exchange investments. They will charge heavy rate of interest though. This may not be bad in the long run and will stimulate the economy.