Most Expensive Cities To Live In 2009

What is the most expensive city in the world to live? What is the cheapest city to live?

Mercer’s Cost of Living survey evaluates 143 cities across six continents, comparing 200 items.

In the survey, New York was used as the base, and the survey weighed other currencies against the U.S. dollar. The period was from March to March, from 2008 through 2009.

TOP TEN EXPENSIVE CITIES IN THE WORLD
1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. New York City, US
9. Beijing, China
10. Singapore, Singapore

TOP EXPENSIVE IN AMERICAS
1. New York City, US
2. Caracas, Venezuela
3. Los Angeles, US
4. White Plains, US
5. San Francisco, US

TOP EXPENSIVE IN ASIA
1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
4. Beijing, China
5. Singapore, Singapore

TOP EXPENSIVE IN EUROPE
1. Moscow, Russia
2. Geneva, Switzerland
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Milan, Italy

TOP EXPENSIVE AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
1. Tel Aviv, Israel
2. Dubai, UAE
3. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
4. Douala, Cameroon
5. Lagos, Nigeria

Nathalie Constantin-Métral, a senior researcher at Mercer, commented:

“As a direct impact of the economic downturn over the last year we have observed significant fluctuations in most of the world’s currencies, which have had a profound impact on this year’s ranking. Many currencies, including the Euro and British pound, have weakened considerably against a strong US dollar causing a number of European cities to plummet in the rankings.”

“As most European currencies have weakened against the dollar it has become more costly for companies based in this region to send expatriates and their families to US cities.”

The Japanese yen gained 16% against the U.S. dollar. The Chinese RMB gained value against the dollar as well. The Indian rupee took a significant loss against the dollar.

While the majority of cities in Europe have become cheaper, some cities in Asia have become more costly to live.