Another long cold wet winter in the UK followed by a pretty dismal summer, may get us thinking about moving abroad to live, but a recent report from Alliance & Leicester International, proves that financially at least, the grass is not always greener elsewhere.
The research was conducted by TWC and commissioned by Alliance & Leicester International. Five different categories were compared across 14 popular expatriate destinations to find the cost of living; the price of the average property and the cost of various shopping list items; litre of petrol, bottle of beer, litre of milk, bottle of water and cup of coffee. The change in cost was measured over the period from October 2008 to July 2009.
The research found that ex-pats living in Italy who have seen basic prices drop, get more for their money than other top destinations, but property prices have falling in all of the 14 countries.
However ex-pats already living in Italy would still have experienced only a minimal 1.5% decrease in property prices on top of the drop in prices of everyday goods.
On the other extreme would be Florida, where prices have increased for all items, including a 200% rise in fuel, although house prices have only dropped by 3.31% or Dubai where property has dropeed a staggering 35.31% and all items on the list have increased.
In the scheme of things the UK fares pretty well, especially if you do not drink beer or milk!
Here is a table to illustrate the findings of the report:
|
Country |
House Prices |
Litre of Petrol |
Cup of coffee |
Bottle of water |
Bottle of Beer |
Litre of milk |
|
Australia |
-2.24% |
-26% |
+38% |
+30% |
+163% |
-35% |
|
Dubai |
-35.31% |
+16% |
+16% |
+320% |
+125% |
+17% |
|
Florida |
-3.31% |
+208% |
+35% |
+26% |
+5% |
+14% |
|
France |
-10.41% |
-8% |
+207% |
+640% |
-51% |
+25% |
|
Hong Kong |
-16.14% |
-46% |
-67% |
-15% |
-86% |
+135% |
|
Italy |
-1.5% |
-10% |
-30% |
-52% |
-65% |
-15% |
|
New Zealand |
-6.33% |
+22% |
+46% |
-21% |
+11% |
-11% |
|
Singapore |
-22.7% |
-7% |
-71% |
-27% |
+14.5% |
+128% |
|
South Africa |
-8.3% |
14% |
-47% |
+83% |
+174% |
-22.5% |
|
Spain |
-7.24% |
-10% |
+59% |
+95% |
59% |
+25% |
|
UK |
-4.54% |
-20% |
Same |
-7% |
+30% |
+28% |
|
Overall* |
100% |
-69% |
+61% |
+53% |
+54% |
+54% |
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