Summary results for four key sectors: digital services, R&D services, corporate services and manufacturing.
Compare the overall study rankings for 29 major global cities, which represent the largest cities in each study country.
Country-by-country summaries highlight the study results for each country, its sectors, cities and cost trends.
Overview summaries for all 19 industry-specific business operations analyzed in Competitive Alternatives.
Summary results for 111 featured cities are presented by region: Asia Pacific, Europe and five major regions within North America.
Profiles of all 133 cities included in Competitive Alternatives provide an overview of study results and key socio-economic information.
KPMG’s guide to comparing international business locations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
A comparison of business costs in more than 100 cities in 10 countries.
A comprehensive analysis of 26 cost factors ranked across 10 countries.
A comparison of costs for 19 specific industries in four key sectors.
Since 1996, Competitive Alternatives has been providing insight into business location costs in cities and countries around the world, with special focus on North America and leading mature market economies in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Business costs represent one important factor considered in virtually all corporate location decisions, thus making Competitive Alternatives a valuable reference for corporations evaluating their national or international location options.
Competitive Alternatives 2016, the latest edition of this biennial KPMG series, compares business costs in more than 100 cities in 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The surging value of the US dollar in 2015 has greatly impacted the global business landscape, significantly constraining US competitiveness. The high value of the US dollar drives down the cost of doing business in all other countries, when measured in US dollar terms. The US now stands out as a high cost business location relative to its peers.
Competitive Alternatives includes business cost rankings for more than 100 cities in the 10 study countries.
This study compares 7 distinct business service sector operations and 12 manufacturing sector operations. Overall cost comparisons for each country and city are based on the average results for these two sectors.
Use the Results Lookup section of this site to drill down into full details of the study for any country, city, sector, industry or cost factor.