South Sudan as the Most Expensive Country in the World - April 2016

Thinking of moving? Cost of Living is changing constantly around the world, are you being offered the right package for your international move?

With the World Changing, is Modern Expatriate Pay Keeping Up?

How can organizations become more innovative and cost effective in their expatriate reward approaches to attract and retain the right expatriate talent?

Do you need some Expatriate Reward Approaches Explained......

Modern organizations are adopting a more flexible approach in the design of international assignment packages. For example instead of a standardized approach, expatriate reward is becoming differentiated based on the nature of the assignment and the individual's needs. For some assignees career development opportunities are more valued than compensation for cost of living and hardship.

Here are some suggestions:

• Talent needs to be sourced from a global talent pool. Instead of focusing on exporting home based expatriate talent, look more closely at potential host based expatriate talent.

• Look at alternatives to cash to be more cost effective. Promote opportunities such as mentoring by senior leadership, developmental exposure to a new product or strategy, or a sabbatical or paid further study after successfully completing an assignment.

• Turn around the traditional home (HQ) to host (developing nation) assignment with the typical large pay disparity between the HQ expatriate and local employees, by incentivizing the right host company talent with expatriate assignment opportunities back to the global or regional HQ. The total cost of expatriating a lower paid assignee, from a low cost location to a high cost location, is far more cost effective.

• The traditional International Assignment Management (see table below) build-up / balance sheet approach is no longer suitable for all. Expatriates consist not only of traditional assignees, but also commuters, employees in global roles and short-term project moves. It is expected that the trend will be increasingly towards these non-traditional expatriates. Consider alternative reward approaches such as Cost of Living Index (COLI), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) approaches (see table below).

• Develop consistent principles for each expatriate type, depending on the purpose of the assignment, the duration, the family/residency status and the home-host combination.

• Instead of replacing one expatriate with another, cut the number of expatriates in the long run by making the identification and successful upskilling of a local successor a core objective of the assignment. Not only are expatriate mobility costs reduced over time, but it will have a positive impact on the company's local brand if the organization is seen to be focused on training and developing local people.

• Treat locations where additional cost of living, hardship and mobility incentives are justifiably required, as differentiated exceptions, by having a clearly articulated expatriate reward strategy and policy framework that is understood and communicated across the organization.

• Continually look for innovative opportunities to evolve the current expatriate reward approaches to ensure they stay modern and relevant.

Expatriate Reward Approaches Explained

Cost of living Index (COLI):

An index is used as input into the organizations expatriate package calculation. A COLI is calculated based on the cost of living difference between the home and host locations for cost of the same basket of goods and services in both locations.

Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP):

Expatriate salary is adjusted for the cost of living difference between the home and host location, ensure the same standard of living (purchasing power) with no loss and no gain (parity) to the individual.

Cost of Living Allowance (COLA):

An allowance (over and above the current salary) to compensate for the difference in the cost of living.

International Assignment Management (IAM):

Expatriate package is calculated using the build-up / balance sheet / home based approach and including hypothetical tax, cost of living index, hardship premium, exchange rate, expatriation premium, benchmark housing allowance and benchmark transport allowance. The approach is to ensure consistent equitable treatment and benefits for all international assignees and have a user friendly reward structure to provide seamless coverage for different family scenarios.

Using the Salary Purchasing Power Parity Calculator (SPPP)

Quality of life may be the single most important deciding factor for workers considering an overseas assignment. As someone considering a posting to one of your company’s foreign offices, or as a human resources manager seeking to retain the best people in your global workforce, being able to calculate a compensation package that affords an equivalent quality of life helps both employer and employee feel they are getting a fair deal.

The SPPP calculator compares compensation packages between the home office, or where the employee is now, and a new assignment in a different country, by measuring relative purchasing power. A compensation package that affords the same purchasing power as the current location is calculated for the host destination. The salary is adjusted to account for differences in exchange rate, the availability of goods and services and other relative differences.

Establishing Your Home Purchasing Power

Purchasing power is calculated by regularly checking the local cost of a wide range of common goods and services and establishing standard cost per unit measurements that can be compared between locations. Xpatulator uses approximately 200 items such as monthly rent, the cost of milk and the price of gas. Items are then grouped into 13 different baskets, such as education, clothing, transportation, groceries, etc.

The baskets are weighted as a percentage of total living expenses based on surveys of how expat workers actually allocate their spendable income. For example, household costs like rent, utilities, home insurance and property taxes are weighted as 30% of the total cost of living.

Which Baskets Are Included In Compensation Package Calculations

Depending on the location, certain costs, such as housing, education and transportation may be arranged for, and paid directly by the company. If, for example, housing costs are to be borne by the worker, then this basket is included in the calculation. If housing is to be provided by the employer, that basket is removed.

Adjusting for Employer Borne Costs and Taxes

When inputting the home salary to the calculator, include only the amount that the employee would normally spend on baskets that will not be covered by the employer at the host location. For example, an employee earning $100,000 USD may typically spend $24,000 annually on rent/mortgage and utilities. If housing and utilities are being provided by the employer at the host location then $76,000 ($100,000 - $24,000) would be used to calculate the salary required to provide equivalent purchasing power.

To adjust for differences in taxes it is recommended that the net salary be used in the SPPP calculator. The applicable tax treatment of the employee at the host destination then needs to be factored in to provide a sufficient after tax salary.

Adjusting For Hardship

Social and political circumstances may impact an employee’s quality of life in ways that are difficult to measure easily. Xpatulator provides a hardship rating for over 700 locations worldwide based on things like political stability, social freedom, availability of quality education and difficulties associated with learning a new language. A hardship adjustment is calculated based on the relative difference between the hardship rating of the home location and the overseas assignment.

Using the SPPP Calculator for Multiple Locations

If you are comparing offers from several different locations use the SPPP calculator to calculate the adjustment between the home location and each host location separately. If you are an HR manager trying to insure that your company is compensating a group of comparable employees fairly, this method also gives you the most consistent way to compare different locations.

SPPP DEMO

What Exactly Is And Why Would I Use A Cost Of Living Calculator?

After speaking to a variety of people on the ground it was interesting to find out that very few understood the concept of using cost of living calculators or realized the importance of knowing how it can affect the negotiation of an expat salary.

What is cost of living?
This is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living when comparing the cost of living between different locations. The objective is to calculate the difference in the cost of living expressed as and index (e.g. dividing the cost of living in location A by the cost of living in location B which may result in an index of say 140, this means that Location A is 40% more expensive than Location B) This would mean that a person who moves from Location B to Location A would need to earn 40% more, to have the same standard of living in Location A as they currently experience.

The difference in the cost of living between two locations is NOT the same for everybody, it is different for every basket group, i.e. the difference in housing costs is not the same as the difference in grocery costs or transport. Take the cost of living in Hong Kong as an example, Hong Kong is extremely expensive if housing is included in your basket selection, however the cost of living is only slightly above average if housing is excluded. It is therefore critical to be able to select which basket groups/expenses are applicable when calculating the cost of living difference between two locations.

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress. Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences.

Which calculator is right for you?

Do you want to calculate the equivalent salary in another country?	Salary Purchasing Power Parity Calculator
Do you want to calculate the cost of living allowance for another country?	Cost of Living Allowance Calculator
Do you want cost of living indexes for several international locations?	Cost of Living Index Calculator

There are of course a variety of ways you can obtain the above information, here are a few and why using data that has been verified is the obvious choice:

1) You could Do It Yourself: There is raw data via online shopping, official governmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as many statutory and non-statutory statistical organisations etc, all of which is difficult to make sense of if this is not your area of expertise. This information is time consuming to collect and difficult to maintain in the long-term.

2) You could use Consultants: There are consulting groups who serve corporate clients (not individuals) charge annual subscriptions which can be expensive. The traditional consultant approach takes a long time when reports are prepared manually and tend to provide more detailed information than clients actually require.

3) Why pay? There are Free Websites: There are free websites who rely on users adding price information and in return provide free average prices and indexes. These sites tend to be error prone. Prices are often submitted for incorrect quantities or in the wrong currency. Free sites allow anybody to submit data. If you are a professional / management level expatriate, the cost of living experienced by local workers will be very different to your cost of living.

4) Xpatulator.com:

Firstly: We manually collect and quality assure the cost of living data ourselves. Our quality is not only better than the free sites, it is also calculated based on the cost of living applicable to international professionals / managers.

Secondly: We organize the data into easy to use basket groups and allow you to select the baskets that are applicable so as to ensure the cost of living calculation is based on the actual costs paid from the salary.

Thirdly: You do not need to wait for a consultant to prepare your report. Our customers are both corporates and individuals. We understand your need for accuracy and speed. We deliver your report in less than 60 minutes. We are open 24 hours a day. 

Cost of living and hardship (quality of life) data is updated quarterly. Current data is as at 1 July 2013 based on data collected during the past 12 months.

This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

The Balassa–Samuelson Effect and Salary Purchasing Power Parity

The Balassa–Samuelson effect ("purchasing power parity" or "Penn effect") is evident in the April 2013 Xpatulator.com global cost of living rankings. The Balassa–Samuelson effect (which was developed independently in 1964 by both Béla Balassa and Paul Samuelson) states that consumer price levels in richer countries are systemically higher than in poorer ones. This is based on the assumption that tradable goods cannot vary greatly in price by location (because buyers can source from the lowest cost location). However most services must be delivered locally (e.g. hairdressing), and many manufactured goods have high transportation costs, which makes purchasing power parity differences (PPP) consistent. The Penn effect is that PPP differences typically occur in alignment: where incomes are high, average price levels are typically high. 


The Balassa–Samuelson effect is the theory behind the Salary Purchasing Parity Calculator. The objective of this calculator is to determine how much salary in a host location will give an employee the same purchasing power as they currently have in their home location. Take for instance two American Civil Engineer's with the same education and experience based in Houston. One is assigned to Zurich (with the highest global cost of living) and the other to Bhutan (with the lowest global cost of living). Based on the cost of living (local prices for the same goods and services) the Salary Purchasing Calculator will determine a far higher salary for the engineer assigned to Zurich, not because of productivity or performance which we assume would be the same, but to equalize their salary purchasing power.

The cost of living rankings are released on a quarterly basis and measure the comparative cost of living in 780 locations across the globe. 

One of the trends of 2012 was the rise of many Asian cities offsetting traditionally more costly European locations. In 2011 Asia took 4 of the top 10 positions while in 2012 this increased to 7. In particular, Australian cities rose rapidly up the rankings, primarily on the back of its strong currency. In 2011 there were no Australian cities among the top 10 most expensive cities. In 2012 Sydney was ranked 6th and Canberra 9th relative to other cities around the world. The 2013 survey sees a reverse of this trend with only 4 cities from Asia in the top 10, Tokyo 3rd, Hong Kong 5th, Yokohama 8th and Sydney 9th.

What is Salary Purchasing Power Parity?

Lets start with the purchasing power parity which determines the relative value of currencies, the PPP economic theory estimates the amount of adjustment needed on the exchange rate between countries in order for it to be equivalent to or on par with each country’s purchasing power.

How much money would you need to purchase the same goods and services in two countries? This is what the PPP rate answers and can then be used to calculate an implicit foreign exchange rate and can determine how much monetary power a specific amount of money has in different countries.  

The law of one price, taking into account the absence of transaction costs and official trade barriers, outcome is identical goods being the same price when expressed in the same currency. However market exchange rates are volatile and are affected by political, economic and financial factors, this results in the one-to-one price comparison being different in each country, with the standard of living in poor countries being steadily understated. PPP rates therefore facilitate international comparisons of income, when there are deviations from parity this is indicative of differences in purchasing power of a “basket of goods” across countries. The PPP rate adjustments into common units are therefore required for the purposes of international comparisons of countries’ GDPs or other national income statistics. The result is that the real exchange rate is equal to the nominal exchange rate. If the PPP held exactly, then the real exchange rate adjustment would always equal to one. However, the real exchange rates exhibit both short and long-term deviations from this value and therefore there can be a vast difference between purchasing power adjusted incomes to those merely converted by market exchange rates.

The Big Mac Index is an excellent example of measuring the law of one price, which underlies the PPP. This index compares the prices of a Big Mac Burger in McDonalds’ restaurants in different countries. What is important about the index is that it takes into account factors such as the input costs from a wide range of sectors such as the local economy including agricultural commodities, labour, advertising, rent and real estate costs, transportations, etc.

If you are offered a job overseas, in another country or state, it is a good idea to check how your salary will compare taking purchasing power factors into account before your move.

Xpatulator.com makes this process easy, using your current salary to compare whether the offer is higher or lower than what you earn now, in terms of local purchasing power.

The Salary Purchasing Power Parity then calculates how much you need to earn in another location to compensate for cost of living, hardship, and exchange rate differences, in order to have the same relative spending power and as a result have a similar standard of living as you have in your current location.

When using Xpatulator.com as your preferred supplier of information, you need to complete the following to use our calculators:

To get started, you need to register to use the SPPP Calculator.  You can do this here:  Register Now.

To run a Salary Purchasing Power Parity Calculator (SPPP) Report you need to follow the steps below:
  

1) Use your username and password to Login, you would have received confirmation of your registration via email. If you have not received your registration confirmation check your Spam Mail or contact us directly on help@xpatulator.com
 

2) Make sure that you have sufficient credit(s) to use the calculator, if not purchase credits by logging and selecting "Purchase Credits".  Each new SPPP report uses 1 credit.
 

3) Select "Calculators" from the left hand menu to start your calculation, this can only be seen if you are logged in
 

4) Choose the Salary Purchasing Power Parity Calculator (SPPP): The SPPP report calculates how much you need to earn in another location to compensate for a higher cost of living, hardship, and changes in the exchange rate, in order to have the same relative spending power and as a result have a similar standard of living as you have in your current location. 

The calculator (Report Wizard) will prompt you for the following:

5) Reference Information: This allows you to give your report a reference as well as include the name of the individual for whom you are running the report. These fields will help you identify your reports for future reference.
 

6) Locations: Here you can select the location that is being relocated FROM and the location that is being relocated TO.
 

7) Cost Allocations: This is a vital part of the selection process, you must select the basket costs that will be paid for by the employee from his own salary (column on right) and what will be provided for by the employer or state, for the employee (column on left). The default is that all basket costs will be paid for by the employee from their own salary unless otherwise specified. Note that there is no point in selecting that all costs are provided for the employee by the employer, as then theoretically the employee would not need to earn a salary.
 

8) Currency Details: This is where you need to select the appropriate currency. You can choose any currency, it does not have to be the currency of the selected locations. Enter the salary amount in the current location, used to pay for the items indicated above as "Paid from Salary". This is used as the basis of the Xpatulator calculation. You can choose the salary you wish to use as the basis for the calculation. For example depending on your salary structure you may choose to use Basic Salary, Base Salary, Guaranteed Cash, Total Cash, Total Remuneration or any other structure. Please note that we do not have tax tables within the calculator. We therefore recommend using net salary (i.e. after tax) as the basis for the calculation. This will provide you with the equivalent net salary in the “moving to location”. You can then apply tax to the equivalent net salary, if any tax is applicable.
 

9) You can choose if you want to allow negative cost of living differences to be applied to your calculation by checking the box. If you choose to allow negative cost of living differences, the calculator will decrease the salary when the cost of living is lower in the TO location. Unless you choose to allow negative cost of living differences, the calculator will only apply positive (higher) cost of living differences.
 

10) You can choose if you want to allow negative hardship differences to be applied to your calculation by checking the box. If you choose to allow negative hardship differences, the calculator will decrease the salary when the hardship is lower in the TO location. If you choose to allow negative hardship differences, the calculator will only apply positive (higher) hardship differences.
In this context hardship refers to the relative differences an expatriate family are likely to experience and the relative impact on their lifestyles when moving from one location to another.  Xpatulator hardship ranking system measures the relative quality of living in each location and assess the level of difficulty that will be experienced in adapting to each location.
 

11) Run Report: When you are sure that all your selection criteria are correct, click on run report. At this point the calculator will use 1 credit ($99).

12) Your report will be created immediately and will look like this Download Demo SPPP Report

1 credit costs $99. Register, then login using your email address and password, and buy your credits online. Please note that credit card verification time is usually a few minutes, but can take a few hours. Once you have your credits you can run the premium content calculators and receive your reports online within minutes.

For more information on cost of living, salary purchasing power parity, cost of living index or allowances go to www.xpatulator.com

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.

The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.

Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.

The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.

All information available at Xpatulator.com

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.

The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.

Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.

The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.

This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.

The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.

Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.

The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.

This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.

The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.

Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.

The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.

This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Brazil, Brasilia Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: Federative Republic of Brazil.

Location: Brazil is in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Country Climate: Mostly tropical, but temperate in south.

Country Terrain: Mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt.

Major Languages: Portuguese.

Major Religions: Christianity.

Country Population: 189.6 million (2008 est.) 191.5 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The economy of Brazil is a federal economy . Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world and the second largest in the Americas, after the United States.

Currency: Brazilian Real (BRL).

Country Inflation: 5.7% (2008 est.) 4.8% (2009 est.).

City: Brasília is the capital of Brazil.

City Economy: The major roles of construction and of services (government, communications, banking and finance, food production, entertainment, and legal services) in Brasília's economy reflect the city's status as a governmental rather than an industrial centre.

Cost of Living: Brasilia has an overall cost of living index which equates it with high cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. Brasilia is currently ranked 3 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information on Brazil, Brasilia

Botswana, Gaborone Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: The Republic of Botswana.

Location: Botswana is in Southern Africa, north of South Africa.

Country Climate: Semiarid; warm winters and hot summers.

Country Terrain: Predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest.

Major Languages: English (official), Setswana.

Major Religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs.

Country Population: 1.8 million (2008 est.) 1.8 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The economy of Botswana is that of a rapidly developing market economy. Being closely tied with the economy of South Africa, the country's economy is one of the most successful in Africa and is dominated by the fast-growing service sector, world-renowned diamond industry, tourism, and manufacturing.

Currency: Botswana Pula (BWP).

Country Inflation: 12.6% (2008 est.) 8.4% (2009 est.).

City: Gaborone, is the capital and largest city of Botswana.

City Economy: Gaborone is the center of the national economy. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has its headquarters in Gaborone.

Cost of Living: Gaborone has an overall cost of living index which equates it with middle cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. Gaborone is currently ranked 161 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information on Botswana, Gaborone

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina are in South Eastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia.

Country Climate: Hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast.

Country Terrain: Mountains and valleys.

Major Languages: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.

Major Religions: Christianity, Islam.

Country Population: 4.0 million (2008 est.) 4.0 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The eceonomy of Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the dual problem of rebuilding a war-torn country and introducing market reforms to its formerly centrally-planned economy. Although agriculture is almost all in private hands, farms are generally small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally is a net importer of food. Industry is mostly overstaffed, a holdover from the socialist economic structure of Yugoslavia.

Currency: Bosnian Mark (BAM).

Country Inflation: 7.4% (2008 est.) 0.9% (2009 est.).

City: Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

City Economy: The economy of Sarajevo has been subject to reconstruction and rehabilitation programs after years of war. Amongst other economic landmarks, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina opened in Sarajevo in 1997 and the Sarajevo Stock Exchange began trading in 2002. The city's large manufacturing, administration, and tourism base, combined with a large informal market, makes it one of the strongest economic regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cost of Living: Sarajevo has an overall cost of living index which equates it with low cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. Sarajevo is currently ranked 260 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo

Bermuda, Hamilton Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: Bermuda.

Location: Bermuda is in North America, it is a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, east of South Carolina (US).

Country Climate: Subtropical; mild, humid; gales, strong winds common in winter.

Country Terrain: Low hills separated by fertile depressions.

Major Languages: English, Portuguese.

Major Religions: Christianity.

Country Population: 0.067 million (2008 est.) 0.068 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The economy of Bermuda is very affluent and has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, having successfully exploited its location by providing financial services for international firms and luxury tourist facilities .

Currency: Bermudian Dollar (BMD).

Country Inflation: 2.8% (2008 est.) 2.8% (2009 est.).

City: Hamilton is located on the north side of Hamilton Harbour, and is Bermuda's main port. Although there is a parish of the same name, the city of Hamilton is in the parish of Pembroke.

City Economy: Finance and international business now constitute the largest sector of Bermuda's economy, and virtually all of this business takes place within the borders of Hamilton.

Cost of Living: Hamilton has an overall cost of living index which equates it with high cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. Hamilton is currently ranked 19 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information on Bermuda, Hamilton

Bolivia, La Paz Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: Republic of Bolivia.

Location: Bolivia is in Central South America, southwest of Brazil.

Country Climate: Varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid.

Country Terrain: Rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin.

Major Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani.

Major Religions: Christianity.

Country Population: 10.0 million (2008 est.) 10.2 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The economy of Bolivia is characterised by the lowest GDP per capita in South America. However, the country is rich in natural resources and has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America. Bolivia is also estimated to have 50%-70% of the worlds lithium.

Currency: Bolivian Boliviano (BOB).

Country Inflation: 14.0% (2008 est.) 4.3% (2009 est.).

City: La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia.

City Economy: The economy of La Paz has improved greatly in recent years. Due to the long period of high inflation and economic struggle faced by Bolivians in the 1980s and early 1990s, a large Informal Economy developed.

Cost of Living: La Paz has an overall cost of living index which equates it with low cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. La Paz is currently ranked 270 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information on Bolivia, La Paz

Bhutan, Thimphu Cost of Living April 2010

Country Full Name: Kingdom of Bhutan.

Location: Bhutan is in Southern Asia, between China and India.

Country Climate: Varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas.

Country Terrain: Mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna.

Major Languages: Dzongkha (official).

Major Religions: Buddhism (official), Hinduism.

Country Population: 0.657 million (2008 est.) 0.664 million (2009 est.).

Country Economy: The economy of Bhutan is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture provides the main livelihood for more than 80 percent of the population. Agrarian practices consist largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry.

Currency: Bhutan Ngultrum (BTN).

Country Inflation: 8.4% (2008 est.) 7.0% (2009 est.).

City: Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan.

City Economy: Thimphu became a town in 1961 and grew as the capital of Bhutan. Before 1960, Thimphu was a small settlement but was developed by the King Jigme Dorje Wangchuk to replace the ancient capital of Punakha. Rapid expansion following the pattern of rural exodus has resulted in considerable rebuilding in the city centre and mushrooming suburban development elsewhere.

Cost of Living: Thimphu has an overall cost of living index which equates it with low cost of living locations. The overall cost of living index is comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services across all 13 Basket Groups. Thimphu is currently ranked 278 overall, most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live, out of 282 international locations.

For more cost of living information Bhutan, Thimphu

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.



The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.



Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.



The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.



This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress.  Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.



The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar.  This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.



Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.



The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation.  SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.



This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress. Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.


The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar. This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.


Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.


The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation. SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.


This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to http://www.xpatulator.com/

Salary Purchasing Power Parity

Internationally comparable cost of living data is crucial to forming sustainable expatriate pay policies and monitoring progress. Market exchange rates give misleading comparisons because they do not reflect salary purchasing power differences. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) accounts for price differences between countries and so measures real quantities.


The purpose of an expatriate pay program is to maintain employee spending power and standard of living irrespective of global location. Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP) is the amount of salary that equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies given the relative cost of the same basket of goods (cost of living) at the exchange rate versus one US Dollar. This means that a given salary, when converted into different currencies at the SPPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries.


Currency exchange rates are highly volatile as they are based on short-term factors and are subject to substantial distortions from speculative movements, economic outlook and government interventions. Currency exchange rates, on their own, do not in our view reflect cost of living changes in the short-term. Exchange rates, even when averaged over a period of time such as a year, are not a good measure of the comparative value of a salary in relation to its comparative international purchasing power. In the short to medium term at least, apparent changes in the comparative level of remuneration between one country and another may be principally a function of changes in the exchange rate as opposed to cost of living.


The basket of goods and services used in SPPP calculations is derived on an International basis and includes certain items often excluded from expatriate cost of living data (most notably housing costs), however any or all of the 13 basket groups can be included or excluded from a calculation. SPPP's provide a reasonably good picture of the differences in standards of living for individual’s resident and paid in different countries.


This article may be freely copied as long as reference is made to Xpatulator.com