What Is The Worlds Most Expensive City?

[TRIPxCORE]

World's most and least expensive cities

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2005 Cost-of-Living Survey

2005

Rank City

1 Tokyo, Japan

2 Osaka, Japan

3 London, United Kingdom

4 Moscow, Russia

5 Seoul, South Korea

6 Geneva, Switzerland

7 Zurich, Switzerland

8 Copenhagen, Denmark

9 Hong Kong, Hong Kong

10 Oslo, Norway

11 Milan, Italy

12 Paris, France

13 New York City, United States

13 Dublin, Ireland

15 St. Petersburg, Russia

16 Vienna, Austria

17 Rome, Italy

18 Stockholm, Sweden

19 Beijing, China

20 Sydney, Australia

20 Helsinki, Finland

22 Douala, Cameroon

22 Istanbul, Turkey

24 Amsterdam, Netherlands

24 Budapest, Hungary

26 Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

27 Warsaw, Poland

28 Prague, Czech Republic

29 Taipei, Taiwan

30 Shanghai, China

31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

32 Düsseldorf, Germany

33 Luxembourg, Luxembourg

34 Singapore, Singapore

34 Frankfurt, Germany

36 Dakar, Senegal

37 Munich, Germany

38 Berlin, Germany

39 Tel Aviv, Israel

40 Glasgow, United Kingdom

41 Athens, Greece

41 Brussels, Belgium

43 Barcelona, Spain

44 Los Angeles, United States

45 White Plains, United States

46 Madrid, Spain

47 Birmingham, United Kingdom

48 Zagreb, Croatia

49 Hamburg, Germany

50 Hanoi, Vietnam

50 San Francisco, United States

52 Chicago, United States

52 Beirut, Lebanon

54 Riga, Latvia

54 Kiev, Ukraine

56 Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

57 Miami, United States

58 Algiers, Algeria

59 Casablanca, Morocco

60 Tallin, Estonia

61 Lyon, France

61 Honolulu, United States

63 Shenzhen, China

64 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

65 Guangzhou, China

66 Lisbon, Portugal

67 Amman, Jordan

68 Melbourne, Australia

69 Auckland, New Zealand

70 Houston, United States

71 Jakarta, Indonesia

72 Kuwait City, Kuwait

73 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

74 San Juan, Puerto Rico

75 Almaty, Kazakhstan

76 Wellington, New Zealand

76 Ljubljana, Slovenia

78 Washington, D.C., United States

79 Boston, United States

80 Morristown, United States

81 Sofia, Bulgaria

82 Toronto, Canada

83 Atlanta, United States

84 Brisbane, Australia

85 Leipzig, Germany

86 Manama, Bahrain

87 Vancouver, Canada

88 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

89 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

89 Adelaide, Australia

91 Vilnius, Lithuania

91 Accra, Ghana

93 Perth, Australia

94 Denver, United States

95 Mexico City, Mexico

96 Lagos, Nigeria

97 Cairo, Egypt

98 Calgary, Canada

99 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

100 Limassol, Cyprus

101 Detroit, United States

102 St. Louis, United States

103 Seattle, United States

103 Bucharest, Romania

105 Kingston, Jamaica

105 Mumbai, India

107 Montreal, Canada

108 Guatemala City, Guatemala

109 Cleveland, United States

110 New Delhi, India

111 Pittsburgh, United States

112 Portland (Ore.), United States

113 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

114 Panama City, Panama

115 Monterrey, Mexico

116 Johannesburg, South Africa

117 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

118 Lima, Peru

119 Nairobi, Kenya

119 Winston-Salem, United States

119 São Paulo, Brazil

122 Ottawa, Canada

123 Lusaka, Zambia

124 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

125 Bangkok, Thailand

126 Tunis, Tunisia

127 Dacca (Dhaka), Bangladesh

128 Santiago, Chile

129 Tehran, Iran

130 Blantyre, Malawi

131 Tianjin, China

132 Colombo, Sri Lanka

133 Bogotá, Colombia

134 Harare, Zimbabwe

135 San José, Costa Rica

136 Karachi, Pakistan

137 Quito, Ecuador

138 Chennai (Madras), India

138 Caracas, Venezuela

140 Montevideo, Uruguay

141 Bangalore, India

142 Buenos Aires, Argentina

143 Manila, Philippines

144 Asunción, Paraguay

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Full story can be found here:

Most expensive

[TRIPxCORE]

Could Ho Chi Minh City really be more expensive than Honolulu? I find that hard to believe. How do the Vietnamese afford it then?

Edited July 6, 2005 by TRIPxCORE

[Totster]

Didn't realise London was so expensive...

How is it worked out.. (sorry haven't read the link yet)..?

totster

[Boon Mee]

I lived for a short period of time in #144 Asuncion, Paraguay and in #96 Lagos, Nigeria and there's something amiss with the stats.

Asuncion for me was much more expensive that Lagos although I'll take Paraguay any day over Nigeria!

[Jeff1]

Hey Trip ,

We made 52 wwwwwwooooooooooo hhhhhhhooooooo !!

[Mr Red]

Hanoi tied with San Francisco?

Methinks something is amiss with this survey ...

[soi lurker]

had to be the japanese city, london not much of a surprise either.......

[Bilko]

I am in Tokyo.

There is certainly no doubt over the Number 1 position,

1 roomed apartment = 60,000 Baht + Utilities, Per Month.

Minimum price for a Taxi = 240 Baht.

Only cheap thing here is a fast Internet connection, Unlimited 100Mbps ADSL about 800 Baht per month.

Tokyo is expensive, but the quality is usually very very good.

[Simpleton]

Are they talking about basic survival for a local, or per diem for a traveller, or maintenance of expat lifestyle? That's the key.

[lampard10]

One of the most expensive capitol cities I have visited doesn't even make the list; Rejkavik in Iceland. Does that make me a cheap charlie?

[WhiteShiva]

Could Ho Chi Minh City really be more expensive than Honolulu?  I find that hard to believe.  How do the Vietnamese afford it then?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess it depend on the criteria they use to come up with the list. Probably based on visitors costs (hotel, fancy restaurants, taxi fares, etc).

Bangkok is a good example. You can easily live here on a few thousand baht, and there is no upper limit. Stay at the Oriental, eat at foreign restaurants, party at Spassos or Rivas, go shopping at the Emporium - the sky is the limit.

[Neeranam]

I agree, there is something amiss here.

Aberdeen in Scotland has the UK's highest rents, house prices, beer prices, apart from maybe central London. Where is it on the list? Why Glasgow? Everyone knows that Edinburgh is much more expensive in nearly all areas.

[chownah]

I looked at the article....amazing how you can understand things better if you look at the article. The list has some really bogus looking listings but if you look at the article it will make more sense....my advise....look at the article.

[Neeranam]

My advice is to ignore the article, it is wrong.

and measures costs including housing, food, clothing, transportation and entertainment.

OK, Glasgow is the 40th most expensive city in the world based on this.

Last time I was there, 60 pence for a bus ride(Aberdeen 1.20)

Taxis more expensive in Aberdeen, food and drink.

In fact everything that the survey says it is based on.

Aberdeen isn't even ranked in the top 150.

[Totster]

I looked at the article....amazing how you can understand things better if you look at the article.  The list has some really bogus looking listings but if you look at the article it will make more sense....my advise....look at the article.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looked at the article... still seems a load of &lt;deleted&gt; to me...

totster

[deepdiver]

One of the most expensive capitol cities I have visited doesn't even make the list; Rejkavik in Iceland. Does that make me a cheap charlie?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you are one !!!

[Nordlys]

Only cheap thing here is a fast  Internet connection, Unlimited 100Mbps ADSL  about 800 Baht per month.  

Tokyo is expensive, but the quality is usually very very good.  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do they have 100Mbps ADSL there already?? Isn't the highest speed for ADSL in Japan 40Mbps now? Maybe you're confused with FTTH (fiber optics)?

I paid B34,000 rent for 27m2 studio condo unit + B4,500 for car parking (without roof, and about 10 min walk from condo) when in Tokyo. And every once in two years the real estate agent asked for close to twice the amount of rent for '(rental agreement) renewal fee', by sending the exact same agreement I signed two years ago. Security deposit was something like 5 months the worth of rent, out of which 2 months worth amount was non-refundable (didn't get a penny refunded after renting the place for almost 6 years!).

Almost bought a condo in Tokyo. B30 million for 83m2 unit!!! (but instead bought much bigger and nicer condo for less than 1/3 that price in Bangkok). Two years ago I saw an advertisement of a condo in Tokyo for B250 million/unit (275m2, at premium location). For that amount you can buy the whole condo where I now live in BKK.

And taxi, yes... If you take a taxi to and from Narita airport to Tokyo city center it would cost as much as cheap off-season air fare between Bangkok - Tokyo. It costs B260 toll to get on city expressway where it is B40 in Bangkok. Once I paid B1,800 + round trip when I drove from western Tokyo to go pick up my wife visiting from BKK at Narita airport (round trip expressway tolls + airport parking but fuel not included). And the parking.... close to B200/hour in city center and most department stores in Tokyo, once I was almost going to end up paying more than B5,000 for parking 24hrs at a Tokyo hotel, as I forgot to ask for parking validation as a hoel guest at front desk when checking out. Domestic flight in Japan costs as much as international flight from Tokyo to anywhere in Asia. I remember once a few months after 9/11, the domestic flight in Japan was more expensive than Tokyo - NYC round trip air ticket.

Edited July 7, 2005 by Nordlys

[britmaveric]

REYKJAVIK, Iceland is far more expensive than Tokyo. Don't believe this list for a minute.

[girlx]

i personally would have to disagree with NY being #13. it is possible to find a reasonably priced, fairly spacious place to stay on short notice in tokyo, while it is definitely not in NY. otherwise they are similar, except the prices of taxis are higher in tokyo. i still think overall NY is more expensive, but that's my experience.

[girlx]

new delhi india is more expensive than portland oregon? this list is crap

[moebius]

Bangkok 125th?

Is that based on the Thai rate or the special Farang rate?

[Nordlys]

i personally would have to disagree with NY being #13. it is possible to find a reasonably priced, fairly spacious place to stay on short notice in tokyo, while it is definitely not in NY. otherwise they are similar, except the prices of taxis are higher in tokyo. i still think overall NY is more expensive, but that's my experience.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Subway and buses are more expensive in Tokyo than NYC.

Maybe Manhattan is more expensive than Tokyo, while perhaps the rest of NYC is not?

BTW I wonder if there's any place where a can of soda can cost more than B45 (Japan)?

Edited July 7, 2005 by Nordlys

[wolf5370]

Bangkok 125th?

Is that based on the Thai rate or the special Farang rate? 

I suppose its also 250th to cater for the double charging.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Miami less expensive than Ho Chi Minh?

I don't think so.

I guessed Copenhagen.

[thedude]

the ranking is done by Mercer, one of the larger human resource consulting groups around. these stats (together with others) are used to work out the relative cost of living in different countries so that they have a basis for advising corporate clients on how much allowances to pay their expatriates in order to sustain a modern western lifestyle in the target country of posting.

the stats are probably derived from the cost of buying a common basket of goods and services in each of the countries. i would imagine the basket of goods and services would comprise typical items required to sustain said modern western lifestyle, irregardless of the specific taxes or duties in the respective countries, and irregardless of cheaper and more readily available local alternatives. i think this accounts for the surprising ranking results for some countries.

[fw1]

Didn't realise London was so expensive... 

How is it worked out.. (sorry haven't read the link yet)..?

totster 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Polls like these are formed by comparing the prices of approximately 10 globally found and commonly purchased goods, such as coke, hamburgers, stamps, basic items of clothing, and various others (sorry can't remember them all off the top of my head). It's not meant to be a comprehensive index and is meant to be nothing more than a guide.

Suspect the reason why many in this thread and people generally pay little attention to it is due to the fact that it is not comprehensive in any way whatsoever.

When it appeared in that joke of a newspaper The Bangkok Post last year, the capital of Ghana made it into the top ten.

[Ted]

I'd agree with thedude and fw1 that its purely based on certain products or amenities regardless of competing brands / taxes etc.

Having lived in both Tokyo and London on a similar salary I had much more disposable income in Tokyo after paying low taxes (think about 10%) and enjoyed a higher standard of living too, eating out / drinking more reguarly etc.

Don't think you can pay too much attention to these surveys...

[Tyree D.]

my guess was right. I thought Olso would be second.