High rentals, low pay: Manila among region’s costliest places

BY CAI ORDINARIO, Businessmirror, 22 Apr 2021

DUE to high rent prices and low salaries, Manila is considered one of the most expensive places to live in Southeast Asia, according to the latest study by iPrice Group’s research.

Based on their research, living in Manila costs P50,798 a month. This is higher than living in Jakarta, Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Only those living in Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand are paying more than that at P119,732 and P51,517, respectively.

“The average cost of living is 168 percent higher than the average salary, so it comes as no surprise that about 35 percent of Metro Manila’s population is reported to live in unstable, badly constructed shelters in the slums, and 11 percent of these reside near railroads or garbage dumps,” iPrice Group said.

In terms of cost of living, the estimate of P50,798 per month in Manila is only good for a single person. Without rent, the cost of living reaches P28,800 per month in the city.

In Bangkok, the estimated monthly cost of living of P51,517 for a single person already takes into account every necessity (rent, food, transportation, utilities, etc.).

Further, Manila’s cost of living tops the others’ cost by 33 percent compared to Kuala Lumpur; 28 percent, Ho Chi Minh; and 24 percent, Jakarta.

Meanwhile, renting in Manila is the second most expensive in the region after Singapore. It is 9 percent higher than Bangkok’s, which is a Southeast Asian tourist hot spot. The data also showed that the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Manila is 56 percent higher than Kuala Lumpur’s; 47 percent higher than Jakarta’s; 31 percent higher than Ho Chi Minh’s.

Low Average Pay

HOWEVER, Manila has the lowest average salary among Southeast Asian countries. The city’s average salary is only about P18,900 per month.

“These numbers will leave people scratching their heads because Numbeo records Manila to have the lowest estimated average net salary among the other cities,” iPrice Group said.

Data on the estimated average monthly cost of living for a single person was taken from www.numbeo.com on April 20, 2021.

The lowest rent price for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center was added to the overall monthly cost of living. Numbeo gathers data from user inputs (from over 500,000 contributors) and manually collects data from authoritative sources. Data is updated twice a year.

It filters data in each country by using heuristic technology and periodically removes statistically inaccurate data. XE currency conversion rates (on April 20, 2021) were used on to convert figures.

iPrice Group is a meta-search web site operating in seven countries across Southeast Asia namely; Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong.