Belgium, Brussels - Cost of Living

The economy of Belgium is a modern, private enterprise economy that has capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base.

Brussels is the de facto capital city of the European Union (EU) and the largest urban area in Belgium. Serving as the centre of administration for Europe, Brussels' economy is largely service-oriented. It is dominated by regional and world headquarters of multinationals, by European institutions, by various administrations, and by related services, though it does have a number of notable craft industries, such as the Cantillon Brewery, a lambic brewery founded in 1900.

Brussels 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.

The latest cost of living rank for each of the 13 Basket Groups is now available.

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Belarus, Minsk - Cost of Living

The Belarusian economy remains largely state-controlled. Thus approximately half of Belarusians are employed by state-controlled companies. The country relies on imports such as oil from Russia. Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat. As of 1994, the biggest exports from Belarus were heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and energy products.

Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus. Minsk is the economic capital of Belarus. It has developed industrial and services sectors.

Minsk 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.

The cost of living rank for each of the 13 Basket Groups is now available.

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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.

Barbados, Bridgetown - Cost of Living

The economy of Barbados has transformed itself from a low-income economy dependent upon sugar production, into an upper-middle-income economy based on tourism and the offshore sector.

The City of Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Bridgetown is a major West Indies tourist destination, and the city acts as an important financial, informatics and convention centre in the Caribbean region.

Bridgetown 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.

The cost of living rank for each of the 13 Basket Groups is now available.

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Living in Prague

Expats in Prague, Czech Republic, www.expats.cz, provides in-depth information for the expatriate community in Prague and beyond.