Study Buddy (Challenger): Hong Kong ends reign as world’s most expensive city for expats
- ECA International’s cost-of-living survey reveals New York has dethroned Hong Kong, which is now No 2 after reigning at the top between 2019 and 2022
- This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills
The cost of accommodation in Hong Kong has fallen. Photo: ShutterstockContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Hong Kong is no longer the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the first time in four years due to lower accommodation costs, according to a survey by a human capital firm. New York has dethroned Hong Kong, which came in at No 2 after reigning at the top between 2019 and 2022, followed by Geneva which was ranked third and London fourth, ECA International’s cost-of-living survey revealed earlier this month. Singapore has gained eight spots with its soaring property prices.
[2] The annual rankings were deduced from survey data gathered by the firm in March, including the cost of food, household goods, recreational goods and services, clothing, meals out, alcohol and tobacco. In September 2020, ECA International began taking into account accommodation and utilities, causing Hong Kong’s 2019 rank to go from No 4 to No 1.
[3] “Costs for goods and services in Hong Kong rose at multi-year highs, showing that the city was not spared from the wave of inflation we have seen throughout the world in the past year,” said Lee Quane, Asia regional director at ECA International. “In spite of this, Hong Kong fell in our rankings as the increase in prices of day-to-day goods and services was tempered by falls in accommodation costs in the city.”
[4] Several other Asian cities also saw a drop in their rankings. Tokyo fell five spots to No 10 this year, with the survey attributing the plunge to the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen. Mainland Chinese cities Shanghai and Guangzhou slid out of the top 10 to 13th and 14th.
[5] “China’s relatively late emergence from Covid-19 related restrictions had an impact on its economy,” Quane said. The situation had resulted in the Chinese yuan becoming weaker against the US dollar compared with last year, combining with lower inflation rates to bring the cities down in the rankings, he added.
[6] But Singapore bucked the trend and rose from 13th place in 2022 to rank fifth this year due to rapidly rising accommodation costs as supply was unable to keep up with demand, according to the ECA. The findings correspond with earlier reports, such as the latest Home Attainability Index by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Centre for Housing, which said the median price of a private home in Singapore was US$1.2 million (HK$9.4 million) in 2022, the highest among cities in the Asia-Pacific region.
[7] According to the same report, Hong Kong’s private home prices fell by 8.7 per cent, returning to 2017 levels, mainly because of a drop in the city’s population and rising interest rates for mortgages. Despite the city’s lower ranking, expats said the cost of living remained high.
[8] Jessica Tan, a 33-year-old public relations professional who moved to Hong Kong from Canada in 2016, said she found rental prices fell significantly when pandemic restrictions were at their most stringent in 2021 and early 2022. “I am about to move to a new apartment, but as I was looking around, I found rental prices have definitely gone back up,” she said.
Source: South China Morning Post, June 7
Questions
1. Rank the top five most expensive cities in the world for expatriates based on information in the article.
2. What ranking factor below is not mentioned in paragraph 2?
A. food expenses
B. public transport fares
C. cost of dining at restaurants
D. alcoholic beverages and tobacco products
3. According to paragraph 3, what caused Hong Kong to lose its title as the world’s most expensive city for expatriates?
4. What do the three cities mentioned in paragraph 4 have in common?
5. According to paragraph 5, the caused Shanghai and Guangzhou to drop out of the top 10 ranking.
A. impact of Covid restrictions on the economy
B. weakening of the US dollar
C. increase in the prices of goods and services
D. global economic recession
6. Find a phrase in paragraph 6 that means “went in the opposite direction from how the situation was developing generally”.
7. What is the main reason for the spike in cost of buying and renting a home in Singapore according to paragraph 6?
8. Based on your understanding of paragraph 8, when was the best time for expatriates to rent a flat in Hong Kong, and why? (2 marks)
9. Which of the following statements about this article is true?
A. Singapore has surged to fifth place in a list that ranks cities by how expensive they are for expatriates.
B. New York has taken the crown as the world’s most expensive city for expats.
C. Shanghai and Guangzhou have lost their spots in the world’s top 10 most expensive cities for expatriates.
D. all of the above
Answers
1. 1st: New York; 2nd: Hong Kong; 3rd: Geneva; 4th: London; 5th: Singapore
2. B
3. falls in accommodation costs
4. They saw a drop in their rankings on the list of the world’s most expensive cities for expatriates.
5. A
6. bucked the trend
7. There was not enough accommodation to meet the demand. (accept other similar answers)
8. between 2021 and early 2022 because rental prices fell significantly during this period due to pandemic restrictions
9. D