With our cultural similarities, strong economies and seasonal job opportunities, it is easy for Brits, Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders to dream of relocating within the CANZUK area, either temporarily or permanently.
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| How expensive are CANZUK cities? (photograph: U Move Australia) |
However, upon arrival in their new city and CANZUK country of choice, many individuals find difficulty in adapting to the varying (and sometimes frustrating) costs of living. A native from Montreal, Canada may find the cost of living surprisingly high in Perth, Australia. Alternatively, a new arrival from Tauranga, New Zealand may be astonished at the rent prices in London, UK, and a lower ability to purchase goods and services with the same income.
Below, we have accumulated data regarding the most common issues affecting migrants who relocate within the CANZUK area, and an explanation of the data is given below:
[All data provided by Numbeo and accurate at time of publication (November 30th, 2016)]
The data provided is given as an “index” number, meaning all values are metrically calculated against a centralised value. As standard with world data and global indexes, values are measured against a “baseline city”, which in most cases, is New York, United States. If New York was to be placed within our data above, its values would look like this:
Because New York has a base value of 100.00, other cities around the world can be compared as a percentage figure. For example:
- The Cost of Living in Edinburgh, UK is only 69.27% that of New York’s, therefore it is 30.73% cheaper (100% - 69.27% = 30.73%) to live in Edinburgh than New York;
- Grocery prices in Brisbane, Australia are 73.92% that of New York’s, effectively indicating that groceries are 26.08% cheaper (100% - 73.92% = 26.08%) in Brisbane than New York;
- Local Purchasing Power in Wellington, New Zealand has an index value of 127.41, meaning that you can purchase $127.41 worth of goods and commodities in Wellington as you can with $100 in New York (inclusive of exchange rates).
As a general rule, it is better for the Cost of Living, Rent, Cost of Living Plus Rent and Groceries indexes to be lower, while better for the Local Purchasing Power index to be higher.
From this, individuals relocating within the CANZUK area can estimate the price and cost variances between their home city and their relocation city. For example:
- Rent prices in London, UK (70.99) are 25.29% more expensive than rent prices in Vancouver, Canada (45.7). We reach this conclusion via the sum: 70.99 - 45.7 = 25.29%);
- Grocery prices in Brisbane, Australia and Canberra, Australia are very similar;
- By comparison, you can purchase $115.71 worth of goods and commodities in Cardiff, UK and $107.09 worth of goods and commodities in Auckland, New Zealand, with $100 USD;
- Cost of living and rent is 19.65% more expensive in London, UK than Tauranga, New Zealand (76.08% - 56.43% = 19.65%).
Therefore, data accumulated in this way provides useful information regarding cost/price comparison in differing cities throughout the CANZUK area. From the data, we can also conclude the following:
We will be looking to update these statistics often and provide the latest indexes throughout the CANZUK area as they formulate.
For more information regarding cost comparisons in CANZUK cities, please email us at support@CFMO.org.