Moscow remained the world’s priciest city for expatriates in 2007 for the second consecutive year, while Tokyo fell to the fourth place from third in the ranking of 143 cities worldwide, a survey result showed.
The latest Cost of Living Survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting of the United States compared those cities by a cost of living index for 200 items, such as housing, transportation and food costs.
The index for Moscow rose from 123.9 in 2006 to 134.4 this year, against 100 for New York, due mainly to higher housing costs, according to the survey showed Monday.
London came second at 126.3, up from fifth 2006. Appreciation of the pound and the euro against the USD on the foreign exchange market helped European cities rank higher across the board.
Seoul fell from second to third place with an index reading of 122.4, replacing Tokyo, which slid to fourth place at 122.1, followed by Hong Kong.
Osaka, Japan’s second-biggest city, ranked eighth, down from sixth last year. Four Asian cities ranked in the top 10.
The rankings of Chinese cities, which showed rapid advances in 2006 survey, dropped. Beijing and Shanghai took the 20th and 26th places, respectively, due mainly to stabilized housing costs.
At the lowest of the ranking was the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, for the fifth year in a row.