Expats' costs rising in Asia 11 Bangkok a relative bargain in annual Mercer survey, which also reveals pandemic-influenced changes in mobility policies published : 8 Jul 2021 at 08:22 11 Asia dominates the list of the world's most costly cities for expatriates, despite significant shifts -- including a big drop of 11 points for Bangkok to 46th place -- according to the global human resources consultancy Mercer. Hong Kong lost top spot -- a position it held for the past three years -- to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, now the costliest city for international employees, both in Asia and globally, in the 2021 Cost of Living Survey by Mercer. Tokyo, now ranked fourth, was leapfrogged by Beirut, which climbed 42 positions to third, as a result of a severe economic depression linked to a financial crisis, Covid-19 and the Port of Beirut explosion in 2020.