What's the latest on expat salaries and cost of living?

There are a variety of different sources for this kind of information, but ECA International just produced their annual MyExpatriate Market Pay report. 

Relocate Magazine highlights a few of their interesting findings.

• The UK saw a huge increase in expat pay packages, overtaking Japan as the top in the table for highest overall compensation packages. The average, mid-level expat pay packages in Britain rose by £44,688 to £311,240 ($421,798). 
• Switzerland offers highest middle manager salaries in Europe to expatriates, with an average of £66,940, compared to the UK's £55,948.
• Saudi Arabia and the UAE were tops for the highest salaries.  However, Oliver Browne who is ECA's remuneration manager, explained that "the benefits offered in these nations are not among the most costly for an employer, and the average value of benefits offered actually dropped in both locations last year, while the lack of any personal tax means that the overall package works out to be a lot lower when benefits and tax are both taken into account.” 
• China was third as the average package is now valued at £228,896, an increase of three percent in the local currency. 
• In the U.S., the tax reforms seem to have lowered overall costs, moving the U.S. to 11th on the list. Salaries and benefits increased but the tax reforms helped drop overall comp by $4,445 to an overall total of $250,028 (£184, 493) last year.

Here is your 2018 list for highest expat pay costs:

1. UK
2. Japan
3. China
4. India
5. France
6. Hong Kong
7. South Korea
8. Australia
9. Argentina
10. Turkey

These reports provide detailed benchmarking information about expatriate salaries in specific countries, allowing you to test, adjust or prove the efficiency of your salary policies. They are free to companies who contribute data to them, can be used to accurately compare pay and benefits and demonstrate the market position of your salaries to key stakeholders.

Interested in more articles on expat tax and comp? Try these:

Five essential tax issues for expatriate workers

What was the real fallout from the tax reform act on mobility programs?

Take time to evaluate your expatriate tax program