Bucharest has higher rents than Warsaw

An expat pays around 4,200 dollars a month (3,000 euros) for an apartment in Bucharest, the same cost as Prague, but a few hundred dollars more than in Warsaw, shows a study conducted by human resources consultancy Mercer. Therefore, a foreign manager working in Romania pays around 4,200 dollars a month for a 250 square-metre, four-room apartment in an area such as Aviatorilor or Dorobanti, while an expat living in Warsaw pays around 4,000 dollars for a similar apartment. Tokyo is the capital with the highest rent, where for a similar sized apartment, located in a high-end area, expats can expect to pay around 11,500 dollars a month. London ranks second, with 11,000 dollars. However, most price categories are lower in Bucharest compared with Western European capitals. "Ov erall, costs in Bucharest are 19% lower," says Oana Botolan, country manager of Consulteam, the local representative office of Mercer. For instance, in terms of the annual cost of schooling for children, in Bucharest, an expat pays a $5,000 annual fee for a primary school, while in Prague, the same service costs just over 10,000 dollars.