According to Mercer’s Cost of Living City Ranking for 2024, Karachi and Islamabad are ranked among the top five most affordable cities in the world for international employees ¹ ² ³.
The ranking, which included 226 cities across five continents, measured and compared the costs of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment ¹ ².
The Pakistani cities join Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria, and other cities in Africa and Asia, at the lower end of the cost of living spectrum, while Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich top the list as the most expensive locations for international employees ¹ ².
The ranking is a valuable tool for employers to design efficient and transparent compensation packages for international assignees.
The economic crisis in Pakistan, coupled with the massive depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, have contributed to these low rankings.
However, citizens within Pakistan are facing high inflation, which hit a record 38% in May last year, though it has since eased ².
