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Philippines offers lowest living costs for expats--survey
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The Philippines has the lowest living costs for expatriates, according to a survey of 32 countries and territories released Monday.
The Philippines, which placed at the bottom of the survey, was the cheapest country to live in followed by Argentina, Thailand and Malaysia, said an annual cost of living study by human resources organization ECA International.
The survey also showed that Asia has generally become less expensive for expats when compared to Western Europe and North America due to the region's steady inflation rates and currencies.
The region's biggest economy, Japan, slipped one notch down from 2004 to rank as the third most expensive place to live globally, according to ECA.
"Japan is now relatively less expensive than it was in 2004 which is due to the fact that the price of goods and services has continued to fall over the past twelve months," it said.
Norway remained the most expensive country, unchanged from its position in 2004, followed by Denmark which rose one place to rank as the second most costly place for expatriates.
Singapore was ranked 23rd while arch economic rival Hong Kong placed 18th. South Korea was sixth.
"Economic stability in the region means that there are few significant changes in cost of living in Asia," said Lee Quane, ECA's general manager in Hong Kong.
"Steady inflation rates and stable currencies are keeping cost of living differences within the region largely in line."
European countries dominated the top 10 with the only exceptions being second-place Japan and South Korea in sixth.
Switzerland placed fourth, followed by Finland in fifth and Ireland in seventh. France was eighth, followed by Sweden, with Britain filling out the top 10
Posted: Monday 14th November 2005, 6:03 AM
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