Lists

The most expensive cities to live in, ranked

Top-tier capitals where rent alone can swallow a decent salary. Same methodology as the cheapest-cities list.

01 KR South Korea · Seoul rent €1,500,000 · food €450,000 €2,250,000/mo 02 KR South Korea · Incheon rent €900,000 · food €420,000 €1,615,000/mo 03 KR South Korea · Busan rent €650,000 · food €400,000 €1,335,000/mo 04 KR South Korea · Daegu rent €550,000 · food €385,000 €1,212,000/mo 05 KR South Korea · Daejeon rent €530,000 · food €380,000 €1,180,000/mo 06 JP Japan · Tokyo rent €185,000 · food €42,000 €264,000/mo 07 JP Japan · Yokohama rent €105,000 · food €40,000 €180,000/mo 08 JP Japan · Osaka rent €95,000 · food €38,000 €164,000/mo 09 JP Japan · Kyoto rent €85,000 · food €37,000 €152,000/mo 10 JP Japan · Fukuoka rent €72,000 · food €35,000 €135,000/mo 11 HK Hong Kong · Hong Kong Island rent €22,000 · food €4,500 €28,550/mo 12 HK Hong Kong · Kowloon rent €17,000 · food €4,300 €23,200/mo 13 HK Hong Kong · Discovery Bay / Lantau rent €16,000 · food €4,400 €22,650/mo 14 HK Hong Kong · New Territories East rent €13,500 · food €4,100 €19,600/mo 15 HK Hong Kong · New Territories West rent €12,000 · food €4,000 €18,050/mo 16 AE United Arab Emirates · Dubai rent €9,500 · food €1,500 €12,130/mo 17 AE United Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi rent €6,500 · food €1,450 €8,780/mo 18 AE United Arab Emirates · Sharjah rent €3,800 · food €1,300 €5,840/mo 19 AE United Arab Emirates · Ras Al Khaimah rent €3,200 · food €1,250 €5,130/mo 20 AE United Arab Emirates · Ajman rent €2,800 · food €1,250 €4,705/mo

Methodology on the methodology page. Each row links to the country brief with full source attribution.

𝕏 Twitter Reddit LinkedIn HN

Get the monthly brief.

One email a month — the most important visa, tax, and policy changes across tracked countries. Unsubscribe anytime.

Other topic lists

ListThe cheapest cities for remote workers in 2026ListThe fastest-processing skilled-worker visas of 2026ListThe lowest top-marginal income-tax countries, rankedListHighest GDP per capita: richest countries in 2026ListThe fastest-growing economies of 2026