Australia, Sydney

Overview

Australia, Sydney Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services. Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP.

Australia is in Oceania, a continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. The climate is generally arid to semi arid but temperate in the south and the east and tropical in the north.

The official language is English. The main religion is Christianity.

The economy of Australia is a prosperous, free market economy dominated by its services sector, representing 68% of Australian GDP. The agricultural and mining sectors (10% of GDP combined) account for 57% of the nation's exports.

Australians typically talk directly rather than around issues, generally do not like class orientated structure, preferring informality and modesty such as first names even in a business setting (although dress tends to be formal), respect the opinions of others, and enjoy a good debate. Australians typically take turns in paying for beverages, and often use humour to establish rapport.

The security risk for expatriates in Australia is low. Risks include low levels of petty crime in busy tourist areas.

The currency of Australia is the Australian Dollar (AUD). Banking is on a par with that of Western Europe and North America.

The standard of healthcare in Australia is very good however costs of treatment for expatriates can be high.

The population of Sydney is 5.1 Million (2019 est.), while the inflation rate (CPI) is 1.7% for Australia as at September 2019.

Xpatulator Hypothetical Tax for Australia is based on the current personal income tax rates which are progressive up to 45%.

Cost Of Living

The cost of living for expatriates / professional migrants in Sydney as at 1 October 2019 is very high in comparison to other places in the world.

We have collected prices for the same items, world wide, and converted them to $USD so that we can compare the cost of 13 different baskets in 780 global locations. For each basket, compared to New York, the equivalent cost in Sydney is as follows:
1) Alcohol (where available) & Tobacco: for items such as beer, spirits, wine and tobacco related products such as cigarettes. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1350
2) Clothing: for items such as business, casual and children's clothing and footwear. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1010
3) Communication: for various communication costs such as home telephone rental, internet subscription, mobile service provider tariff and data costs. A basket costing USD$200 in New York costs USD$332
4) Education: for items such as creche / pre-school fees, primary school fees, high school fees and tertiary study fees. A basket costing USD$30000 in New York costs USD$24000
5) Furniture & Appliances: for items such as dining table and chairs, home entertainment, kitchen appliances, and sofas. A basket costing USD$2500 in New York costs USD$2250
6) Groceries: for items such as consumables, cleaning products, dairy, fresh fruit & vegetables, general food products, snacks, soft drinks. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$740
7) Healthcare: for general heath care, doctor visits, hospital stays, non-prescription medicine, and medical insurance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$670
8) Household Accommodation: for items such as apartment rent, house rent, property purchase, mortgage rate, and utilities. A basket costing USD$5000 in New York costs USD$3400
9) Miscellaneous: for items such as dry cleaning, linen, magazines, newspapers, office supplies, and postage stamps. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$535
10) Personal Care: for items such as cosmetics, hair care, and toiletries. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$450
11) Recreation & Culture: for items such as books, cinema, sport and theatre tickets. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$475
12) Restaurants Meals Out and Hotels: for items such as hotel daily room rates, meals and beverages in a restaurant, and take away food and beverages. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$840
13) Transport: for items such as fuel (petrol/gasoline), car hire, public transport, vehicle purchase and maintenance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1050

Sydney is 14.2% more expensive than Houston TX for groceries, 60% more expensive for household costs than Kuala Lumpur, and 77.2% more expensive for transport costs than Dubai.

Sydney is ranked as a minimal hardship location.

The hardship premium for Sydney for an expat from London, is for example 0%, i.e. host location (Sydney) premium of 10% minus home (London) location premium of 10%.

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The cost of living for expatriates / professional migrants in Sydney as at 1 October 2019 is very high in comparison to other places in the world.

Sydney is ranked as a minimal hardship location.