Most expensive cities in the world - cost of living

The city with the highest cost of living in the world is not New York or Tokyo, but Luanda, Angola.


(scroll down for the top50 table)
Angola's capital Luanda retained the unenviable title of the world's most expensive city for expatriates, narrowly edging out Tokyo, according to a survey published by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.


At the other end of the scale, the Mercer group's study named the Pakistani port Karachi as the least expensive city.


Oil-rich Angola is a magnet for foreign workers who push up already high prices inflated by a reliance on imports.


The southern African nation's domestic production lags behind its neighbours due to the effects of a 27-year-long civil war on its infrastructure.


Another African city, the Chadian capital N'Djamena, was placed third with Moscow fourth and Geneva fifth.

Paris dropped 10 places to 27th while London dropped one place to 18th. New York at 32nd was named as the most expensive metropolis in the United States.


Australian cities jumped sharply in the ranking, reflecting the local currency's 14 percent gain against the US dollar.


The report, which is published annually to help companies assess compensation allowances for expatriate workers, compared the cost of over 200 items including housing, food and transport in 214 cities, using New York as a reference.


Kuala Lumpur also gone up in the ranking because the US dollar has weakened against Ringgit Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

104 (2011)

138 (2010)

+34

City rankings

Top 50 cities: Cost of living ranking

 

Mercer international basket including rental accommodation costs

 

Base City: New York, US

 

Rankings
March 2011	March 2010	City	Country
1	1	LUANDA	ANGOLA
2	2	TOKYO	JAPAN
3	3	N'DJAMENA	CHAD
4	4	MOSCOW	RUSSIA
5	5	GENEVA	SWITZERLAND
6	6	OSAKA	JAPAN
7	8	ZURICH	SWITZERLAND
8	11	SINGAPORE	SINGAPORE
9	8	HONG KONG	HONG KONG
10	21	SÂO PAULO	BRAZIL
11	19	NAGOYA	JAPAN
12	7	LIBREVILLE	GABON
12	29	RIO DE JANEIRO	BRAZIL
14	24	SYDNEY	AUSTRALIA
15	11	OSLO	NORWAY
16	22	BERN	SWITZERLAND
17	10	COPENHAGEN	DENMARK
18	17	LONDON	UNITED KINGDOM
19	14	SEOUL	SOUTH KOREA
20	16	BEIJING	CHINA
21	25	SHANGHAI	CHINA
21	33	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA
23	23	NIAMEY	NIGER
24	19	TEL AVIV	ISRAEL
25	13	VICTORIA	SEYCHELLES
25	15	MILAN	ITALY
27	17	PARIS	FRANCE
28	67	OUAGADOUGOU	BURKINA FASO
29	30	ST. PETERSBURG	RUSSIA
30	60	PERTH	AUSTRALIA
31	55	BRISBANE	AUSTRALIA
32	27	NEW YORK CITY, NY	UNITED STATES
33	70	BRASILIA	BRAZIL
34	26	ROME	ITALY
34	74	CANBERRA	AUSTRALIA
36	28	VIENNA	AUSTRIA
37	38	NOUMÉA	NEW CALEDONIA
38	38	GUANGZHOU	CHINA
39	62	DJIBOUTI	DJIBOUTI
39	76	STOCKHOLM	SWEDEN
41	62	LAGOS	NIGERIA
42	31	HELSINKI	FINLAND
43	42	SHENZHEN	CHINA
44	32	DAKAR	SENEGAL
44	141	KHARTOUM	SUDAN
46	90	ADELAIDE	AUSTRALIA
47	47	PRAGUE	CZECH REPUBLIC
48	36	BAKU	AZERBAIJAN
49	33	BANGUI	CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.
50	35	AMSTERDAM	NETHERLANDS