Cost of Living

Mercer has just published its annual survey of the relative cost of living in cities across the world.

Seoul is 4% more expensive than New York, ranked 7th in world and 4th in Asia after Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong.

London is now 2nd in the world (changing places with Seoul, strangely enough, as London was 7th last year). It's 19% more expensive than New York.

These figures only measure the cost of living the executive lifestyle, as they're intended for companies setting global salary levels. They take the cost of a "luxury two-bed apartment" - in London they surely chose St John's Wood but the choice wouldn't be so easy in Seoul. The prices here seem to be determined more by the quality of the building than the area, the reverse of London. On my favourite street in Yongsan-gu, you can pay from 10억원 to 30억원 for a good four bed flat depending on the building's attractiveness. (10억원 is 720,000 euros, or 470,000 pounds.)

The cost of living excluding housing is far lower in Seoul than London though - the proof being that I now weigh 4kg more than I did when I arrived in February. London prices will soon see to that, I'm sure...