Moving to Lahore

Today we look at moving to Lahore in Pakistan from Amsterdam in Netherlands. We highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced in our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations.
In Lahore  people speak English, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi. In Amsterdam people speak Dutch.

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan. Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. Lahore has shifted in recent decades from manufacturing to service industries. Some 42% of its work force is employed in finance, banking, real estate, community, cultural, and social services. The city is the country's largest software producing center, and hosts a growing computer-assembly industry. The city is the financial and cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies.

The overall cost of living rank in Lahore  is 273 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations.  An expatriate moving from Amsterdam to Lahore  will experience a change in cost of living of -34.3%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Lahore  is ranked as an extreme hardship location with a hardship index of 40% compared to Amsterdam with a hardship index of 10% which is a minimal hardship location.

Source: Cost of living Lahore, Pakistan as at July 2011.