TRIPxCORE Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 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 «back to top» Full story can be found here: Most expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRIPxCORE Posted July 6, 2005 Author Share Posted July 6, 2005 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totster Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Didn't realise London was so expensive... How is it worked out.. (sorry haven't read the link yet)..? totster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Mee Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff1 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Hey Trip , We made 52 wwwwwwooooooooooo hhhhhhhooooooo !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Red Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Hanoi tied with San Francisco? Methinks something is amiss with this survey ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soi lurker Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 had to be the japanese city, london not much of a surprise either....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilko Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simpleton Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Are they talking about basic survival for a local, or per diem for a traveller, or maintenance of expat lifestyle? That's the key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lampard10 Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteShiva Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chownah Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totster Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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 <deleted> to me... totster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepdiver Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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 !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordlys Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 REYKJAVIK, Iceland is far more expensive than Tokyo. Don't believe this list for a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girlx Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girlx Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 new delhi india is more expensive than portland oregon? this list is crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebius Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Bangkok 125th? Is that based on the Thai rate or the special Farang rate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordlys Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf5370 Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gentleman Scamp Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Miami less expensive than Ho Chi Minh? I don't think so. I guessed Copenhagen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fw1 Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyree D. Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 my guess was right. I thought Olso would be second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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