The Republic climbed five spots to become the 13th most expensive city in the world for expatriates. It also rose two places in Asian rankings to become the seventh most costly location on the continent.
Taking the No. 1 spot globally was Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, which also topped the Asian charts.
Other Asian cities in the top 10 of the global rankings were Tokyo (No. 2), Hong Kong (No. 6), Yokohama (No. 8) and Nagoya (No. 10). Seoul was placed 16th, Macau 18th and Shanghai 22nd.
The latest survey results were published on Tuesday by ECA International, which assessed cost of living in cities for non-local employees based on a basket of consumer goods and services, such as groceries and leisure activities.
House rents and cost of cars are not included in calculations as they are usually paid for by employers, which means they are unrelated to expats' spending power.
Although rocked by large-scale protests since June, Hong Kong retained its place in global rankings, but slipped a spot to be Asia's third-most expensive city.
Mr Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International, said Hong Kong's inflation remains high and its cost of living had yet to be impacted by the recession caused in part by "ongoing socio-political upheavals".
The strong Singapore dollar saw the Republic surpass Seoul and Shanghai in this year's ranking "despite relatively low rates of low inflation and weakening global trade growth", Mr Quane added.
Ashgabat came first globally for the second year running, after it rocketed up the rankings from 146th place in 2017.
This was due to high inflation and a black market currency rate that was much weaker than the official exchange rate. Purchases are particularly expensive for expatriates in their home currency unless they can access the illegal black market exchange rate, ECA said.
The firm added that Ashgabat's pole position likely will not last, citing Luanda in Angola which topped the global rankings in 2017 and has since dropped to 92nd place.
Countries like Angola have official exchange rates that are not backed by economic performance, often leading to rapid devaluation of their local currencies which increases the purchasing power of expats, ECA said.
Clement Yong
