Karachi (214) is ranked as the world's least expensive city, and the survey found that Luanda, in top place, is more than three times as costly as Karachi.
Karachi, a sprawling city on the Indian Ocean with a population of about 18 million people, reigns as Pakistan's economic center and primary seaport. The international business hub, which hosts domestic companies as well as multinationals such as IBM (IBM), Chevron (CVX), and Abbott Laboratories (ABT), also happens to have the world's lowest cost of living for expatriates, according to a new survey by global human resources firm Mercer.
According to a 2010 cost-of-living survey for expatriates by Mercer Consulting, a human resource firm, Karachi, Pakistan, is the cheapest place to enjoy a high-end lifestyle, followed by Managua, Nicaragua, and Islamabad, Pakistan.
On the other side of the world, in North Carolina, lies another city where costs are among the lowest in the world, according to Mercer.
Of course, life is not all rosy in Karachi, a rapidly developing city on the Indian Ocean where political and ethnic tensions raise safety concerns and poverty remains a problem. But for those with dollars in their pockets, high-end living comes at a lower cost than in most international cities. For its 2010 cost of living report, Mercer surveyed 214 locations around the world in which multinational companies and international organizations have a presence or are looking to set up operations. The ranking was based on a basket of more than 200 goods, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.
COST OF HOUSING A KEY FACTOR
Even in locations where the overall cost of living is low, many amenities that are customary in global cities do not come cheap.
While rent levels in Karachi are far lower than in most international cities, costs for high-end goods and services were not far below U.S. levels: A cup of coffee from a café costs about $2.24 and a three-course business dinner can cost $43 per person.
ADOPTING A LOCAL STANDARD OF LIVING
Indeed, the majority of local products and services in Pakistan belong in a completely separate price category. Pakistan's Federal Bureau of Statistics estimates that national per capita income is about $1,100; few locals can afford the daily luxuries that many expatriates take for granted.
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