Dublin named 51st most expensive global city to locate international staff

The weakened euro against the dollar influenced Dublin's ranking, said Mercer Ireland senior consultant Noel O’Connor.

Members of the public on Grafton St in Dublin’s city centre last year. File Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Dublin is the 51st most expensive city in the world for investors to locate staff, cheaper than the Swiss urban centres, Copenhagen, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Prague, according to the annual Mercer survey. 

Every year the survey compiles the global rankings for its clients to assess the cost of living and salaries they will have to pay their international staff to work in particular cities. 

Mercer said its latest survey covered over 400 cities and was based on a shopping basket of goods and services in each location, including the cost of housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. 

Dublin, as the 51st most expensive, was slightly more expensive for international staff than Dallas, Sydney, Luxembourg, and Rome, but was significantly more expensive in the rankings compared with Oslo, Riga, and Stuttgart.    

The top five most expensive places were Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. 

New York, Bern, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, and Nassau account for the rest of the top 10 priciest cities, according to Mercer. 

“In general, countries and cities are continuously striving to attract international businesses as well as digital nomads and expatriates on international assignments,” said Mercer Ireland senior consultant Noel O’Connor. 

“The weakened euro against the dollar has again influenced Dublin’s ranking in 2023."