Metro Manila remains among the cheapest cities in Asia for expatriates, a recent survey showed.

A cost of living survey conducted in September by ECA International – a London-based firm specializing on solutions for management and assignment of employees worldwide – ranked Metro Manila 35th among 51 Asian cities.

This means that for an expatriate, Manila would be cheaper compared to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand (28th and 30th, respectively), Vientiane in Laos (33rd), and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam (34th), among others.

Manila’s ranking was unchanged from the results of a survey done in March and September last year.

Globally, its ranking among 249 cities moved up by one notch to 203.

ECA said it became more expensive for expatriates to live in Asia as a weaker dollar pushed up costs.

Four Japanese cities – Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya – were tagged as most expensive in the region. Globally, they were second, fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Completing the 10 most expensive cities in Asia were Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Beijing, Singapore and Taipei.

Globally, the most expensive cities were Luanda in Angola (1st), Copenhagen (4th), Stavanger in Norway (6th), and Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland (9th and 10th, respectively).