Moving to Port Moresby

Today we look at moving to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea from Niamey in Niger. 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 Port Moresby people speak English, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu. In Niamey people speak French (official), Arabic, Hausa and Songhai.

Port Moresby is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. Niamey is the capital and largest city of the West African nation of Niger. The city is often covered by a smoke haze that is created by the numerous small fires lit beside the road or in the bush by its inhabitants. The city experiences high levels of rape, robbery, murder and large areas of the city are controlled by gangs. Niamey is the administrative, cultural and economic center. The city is located in a pearl millet growing region, while manufacturing industries include bricks, ceramic goods, cement and weaving.

The overall cost of living rank in Port Moresby is 26 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with high cost of living locations.  An expatriate moving from Niamey to Port Moresby will experience a change in cost of living of 36.2%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Port Moresby is ranked as an extreme hardship location with a hardship index of 40% compared to Niamey with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

Source: Cost of living Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea as at July 2011.