Auckland ranks 10th of millennial-friendly cities in Asia-Pacific

NZ Herald

15 Feb, 2019 09:43 PM3 mins to read

Auckland ranks 10th out of 20 millennial-friendly cities in Asia-Pacific.

Auckland is in the middle of the pack for the most millennial-friendly cities in the Asia-Pacific, but ranks highly for quality of life.

Research firm ValueChampion analysed a range of factors that attract young people to 20
Asia-Pacific cities based on employment prospects, cost of living and quality of life and Auckland came in at 10th spot.

Singapore's thriving economy and strong job opportunities earned it first place, followed by Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Melbourne.

Auckland ranked third in terms of quality of life, second behind Melbourne for the lowest pollution, 9th for cost of living and 16th in terms of employment prospects, the firm's senior research analyst William Hofmann said.

Melbourne, Sydney and Singapore also scored well for quality of life.

When it came to an important measure for millennials - the price of a pint of beer - only Singapore and Hong Kong were more expensive than Auckland where a pint costs $10.45.

The most expensive pint of beer is $13.10 in Hong Kong. A pint costs $8.98 in Sydney and $10 in Melbourne. The cheapest city is Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam where you can enjoy a pint for $1.27.

Other highlights from the survey were, after adjusting for per capita gross domestic product (GDP), the lowest cost of living is Seoul and Guangzhou, where entertainment and rent are relatively inexpensive.

Singapore and Melbourne topped the list for high quality of life, low pollution, strong health indicators and high level of safety.

Melbourne's very low levels of pollution, great living environment and relatively affordability made it a great place to live with one downside - higher unemployment than other cities on the list.

Teens from the television documentary "Millennium Teens".

The research firm said many young people were willing to move abroad to pursue personal and career opportunities.

"In fact, the World Economic Forum found that four out of five millennials will be willing to relocate internationally for work," the research firm said.

Veisinia Maka, who chairs Auckland Council's youth advisory panel, said she had not seen the survey, but said millennials were travelling more for career opportunities and a change in perspective.

Young Aucklanders were less interested and engaged in local issues and more focused on global issues, she said.

The rankings:

1. Singapore

2. Tokyo

3. Hong Kong

4. Guangzhou

5. Melbourne

6. Taipei

7 =. Seoul, Shenzhen

9. Sydney

10. Auckland

11. Bangkok