Tokyo is on top of the latest cost of living ranking for cities around the globe. The survey is undertaken by Mercer, a global consultant, and looks at 143 cities. It uses the cost of living in New York City as a baseline of 100, and currency movements are compared against the US dollar.
Tokyo is on top with a score of 143.7, moving it up from second a year ago. Another Japanese city, Osaka, is second on the list, up from 11th last year. The two Japanese cities at the top of the list are in part a result of the strengthened yen. Last year’s most expensive city, Moscow, comes in at third in the 2009 list. The rest of the top ten: Geneva in 4th, followed by Hong Kong, Zurich, Copenhagen, New York city, Beijing and Singapore.
Two of the biggest drops came from London, which was 3rd in 2008 and is now 16th, and Oslo, which fell from 4th to 14th. Chinese cities also moved up the list substantially, as Beijing was 20th a year ago and is now 9th. Shanghai went from 24th to 12th, and the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Gunzhou also moved up substantially into the top 25.
