k_hongkong …. k_PPP
See also BRBR,
In terms of retirement destination, there are other important factors (BRBR, weather, nursing home cost, …) but today’s subject is arguably the most fundamental factor.
Now I think a fair comparison of two countries should use median household income adjusted for PPP. There are several key points:
- the most common stats use per-
capita. I would prefer per-household.
- Even in that case, we have an
average household income. I would prefer median, which would rely on national census.
Attachment warning: SG may experience difficulties and may not be so enviable over 40Y.
— GNI ranking by USA_Today, based on WorldBank data .. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/07/richest-countries-in-the-world/39630693/ is a 2019 publication. It explains why GNI is better than GDP.
- Qatar
- Macao
- SG
— WorldBank ranks GDP per capita:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true
- GDP per capita — U.S. ≅> SG > HK
- (my estimate) cost of livelihood i.e. typical not luxury consumer price level including housing, food … SG << U.S. (Melvin3). Also SG < HK
Clearly Singapore citizens get a better deal than Hongkong residents.
I have never lived in HK but I know U.S. cost of living. I would say SG citizens (esp. retirees) get a better deal than U.S. Citizens.
— CIA ranks GDP in purchasing power parity:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/211rank.html
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/各国人均国内生产总值列表(购买力平价) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP(PPP)_per_capita show WorldBank, IMF and CIA rankings.
SG is much higher than HK, Switzerland or U.S. (in that order) and all Scandinavian nations. In fact, the 6 countries above SG all feature tiny populations !
I think both SG and Switzerland rely on workforce from neighboring countries (including China and India), but Switzerland’s neighbors are more expensive.
2002 in Zed I had colleagues from Holland and Finland. I thought their countries were rich, but no. They are now way below Singapore.