Recent survey conducted by Mercer on world wide cost of living confirms that prices in Rio and São Paulo have climbed dramatically over the last year.
Designed as a reference for multinational and governments to figure compensation allowances for their expatriate employees, the survey covers 214 cities across five continents. It measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
São Paulo ranked the 10th most expensive and Rio de Janeiro the 12th. They are now the most expensive locations for expatriates in both North and South America.New York, voted the most expensive in the United States, appears in 32 th position. And yes, they are ahead of cities like London (18) and Paris (27).
Check the list, comparing 2010 and 2011
|
Rankings |
|
||
|
March 2011 |
March 2010 |
City |
Country |
| 1 | 1 | LUANDA | ANGOLA |
| 2 | 2 | TOKYO | JAPAN |
| 3 | 3 | N’DJAMENA | CHAD |
| 4 | 4 | MOSCOW | RUSSIA |
| 5 | 5 | GENEVA | SWITZERLAND |
| 6 | 6 | OSAKA | JAPAN |
| 7 | 8 | ZURICH | SWITZERLAND |
| 8 | 11 | SINGAPORE | SINGAPORE |
| 9 | 8 | HONG KONG | HONG KONG |
| 10 | 21 | SÂO PAULO | BRAZIL |
| 11 | 19 | NAGOYA | JAPAN |
| 12 | 7 | LIBREVILLE | GABON |
| 12 | 29 | RIO DE JANEIRO | BRAZIL |
| 14 | 24 | SYDNEY | AUSTRALIA |
| 15 | 11 | OSLO | NORWAY |
| 16 | 22 | BERN | SWITZERLAND |
| 17 | 10 | COPENHAGEN | DENMARK |
| 18 | 17 | LONDON | UNITED KINGDOM |
| 19 | 14 | SEOUL | SOUTH KOREA |
| 20 | 16 | BEIJING | CHINA |
| 21 | 25 | SHANGHAI | CHINA |
| 21 | 33 | MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA |
| 23 | 23 | NIAMEY | NIGER |
| 24 | 19 | TEL AVIV | ISRAEL |
| 25 | 13 | VICTORIA | SEYCHELLES |
| 25 | 15 | MILAN | ITALY |
| 27 | 17 | PARIS | FRANCE |
| 28 | 67 | OUAGADOUGOU | BURKINA FASO |
| 29 | 30 | ST. PETERSBURG | RUSSIA |
| 30 | 60 | PERTH | AUSTRALIA |
| 31 | 55 | BRISBANE | AUSTRALIA |
| 32 | 27 | NEW YORK CITY, NY | UNITED STATES |
| 33 | 70 | BRASILIA | BRAZIL |
| 34 |
26 |
ROME | ITALY |
| 34 |
74 |
CANBERRA | AUSTRALIA |
| 36 |
28 |
VIENNA | AUSTRIA |
| 37 |
38 |
NOUMÉA | NEW CALEDONIA |
| 38 |
38 |
GUANGZHOU | CHINA |
| 39 |
62 |
DJIBOUTI | DJIBOUTI |
| 39 |
76 |
STOCKHOLM | SWEDEN |
| 41 |
62 |
LAGOS | NIGERIA |
| 42 |
31 |
HELSINKI | FINLAND |
| 43 |
42 |
SHENZHEN | CHINA |
| 44 |
32 |
DAKAR | SENEGAL |
| 44 |
141 |
KHARTOUM | SUDAN |
| 46 |
90 |
ADELAIDE | AUSTRALIA |
| 47 |
47 |
PRAGUE | CZECH REPUBLIC |
| 48 |
36 |
BAKU | AZERBAIJAN |
| 49 |
33 |
BANGUI | CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. |
| 50 |
35 |
AMSTERDAM | NETHERLANDS |
BRAZILGLOBAL.NET 
So if you are visiting São Paulo for the first time, and you appraoch the cashier as you pull all the currency out of your pocket — and not knowing what she said as you stil do not understand portuguese — and say to her in your best portuguese, “por favor não me machuque…”
NOSSO!!! did not realize THREE cities in Brasil are on the top 50. Overall, and I may be wrong, but a good meal can still be gained in Brazil for less than you would pay elsewhere…. just besure to drive a few hours out of the city first. 🙂
As I shared in a comment in the previous article, teh situation is global adn the dominoes are lined up — already a few have fallen (like Greece), which failure will set everything off? I hope there are government leaders that know their financial and economic history as we have been through this 80 years ago…
Thanks Hildete, I think! ; – )
LikeLike
Besides an inflation of around 6,5% at the moment, you have in many – formerly reasonable, meanwhile rediculously expensive – neigbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro an effect created by speculation and unreal markets: Due to declining interest rates, brasilians can for the first time in their life consider to borrow money, and do so. In result, Prices for apartments and houses doubled and more, because instead of buying one appartment and pay for it, everybody seems to prever gambling nowadays, buying 3 appartments and finance it, hoping to sell with good profit. This bullshit will go on for a while and not later than after the olympic games , which are likely to end in a traffic chaos and nothing else , we will see what happens. Prices will probably not go significantly down any more, but inflation and dependency on your bank will probably eat the profit of most… I had a good time here, but meanwhile I consider the city comparable to Monaco or Geneva indeed: Places I would not life mainly for the cost of living … time to leave the country !
LikeLike
Being a permanent legal resident of Brazil and a US citizen, I am really dismayed at how costly things have become. We built our house adjacent to Patamares, Bahia for less than the price of an economy car back in 2003. Now, companies like Odebrecht are speculating to buy up the surrounding neighborhood for condominiums. It is also amazing to witness, seemingly how much money has flooded into construction of condominiums in Salvador. Where is all this money coming from and who can afford it?
LikeLike