Many European cities have become much more expensive for the international travelers during the last 12 months. According to a recent comparative study, 4 out of 10 most expensive cities in the world are from Europe. Moscow has become the second most expensive city just behind Tokyo. London is also in the top 10. Many Eurozone cities have climbed tens of positions during the last year. According to many analysts, this phenomenon is purely artificial, due to almost 40% Euro rise against the US dollar. Given the actual data, these analysts forget one small detail: London isn"t a city in the Eurozone; Moscow, Geneva and Zurich (also included in the top 10) are not even in the European Union. Why did some European cities suddenly become so expensive?

First, there is a truth in the statement about the recent Euro rise. In fact more appropriate should be to say that the US dollar has fallen, because the recent trend has been triggered by the lowest in more than a generation interest rates in the United States. The dramatic fall of the US dollar has been monitored not only against the Euro, but also against many other major international currencies like the British pound, the Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar.

Second, if this explanation was enough, then all cities in the world could remain at their previous places except the cities in the US, affected by the weak dollar. The internal dynamic shows that the currency explanation has only a part of the credit. Not all Eurozone cities have advanced at the same speed, not all cities with stronger national currencies have reached the top of the list. Quite the contrary, the Canadian cities although helped by the stronger Canadian dollar, have maintained their previous positions in the bottom of the list.

Third, Moscow is a very special case that can"t be explained only by the strong Ruble. If that was the case, then all major Russian cities could have entered the top of the list. In fact only St. Petersburg has good scores but it"s quite normal given the political will of the Russian president to celebrate the city 300th birthday. On the other hand, Moscow is a unique city in Russia given the political and economic power it has over the country. The Russian economy in general is isolated from the global markets so any ups or downs on the real estate market there have rather internal than external reasons. Never mind now deep we dig in, we couldn"t find any purely economic reason for the fact that Moscow is more expensive than London. If in the capital of Britain the price levels are result of the huge amount of money competing for smaller space, in the Russian capital these are the administrative regulations that push up and down the prices.

The cities in Switzerland are also special case that can"t be explained only by the weak US dollar against the Swiss franc. Switzerland benefits from other factors that have nothing to do with the currency"s volatility. The first is linked with the low stock markets because the luxury real estate is considered to be a safe investment in times like ours. Second, staying outside EU, Switzerland still offers better opportunities for some European investors.

Thus, the picture we have in the world is far more complicated than just a mechanical transfer of US dollars into Euros. The new exchange rates play a certain role in the new most expansive cities" list but they can"t explain everything.

World"s 10 Most expensive cities

1. Tokyo
2. Moscow
3. Osaka
4. Hong Kong
5. Beijing
6. Geneva
7. London
8. Seoul
9. Zurich
10. New York

(Mercer Human Resource Consulting)

World"s most expensive cities
 
Tokyo No. 1 again, Asuncion least expensive; in U.S., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago are costliest.
June 14, 2004: 2:36 PM EDT
 
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Expensive living is yours for the taking if you"re an ex-pat living in Tokyo, London and Moscow.

Those three cities ranked as the most expensive in the world, according to the latest annual cost-of-living survey released Monday by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

The three least expensive cities were Asuncion, Paraguay; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The survey looked at 144 cities across the globe. Mercer conducts the survey to help companies and governments with offices around the world determine compensation levels for ex-patriate workers.

Among U.S. cities, New York, which ranks No. 12 worldwide, is the most expensive.

Other cities that ranked as among the most expensive are Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, was the least expensive city in the country.

Mercer noted that U.S. cities dropped in their worldwide rankings relative to last year because of the depreciation of the dollar against European, Canadian and Asian-Pacific currencies.

Appreciation in local currencies also accounted for a big change in other cities" worldwide rankings.

The strength of the Canadian dollar pushed Toronto up to 89th from 104th last year, and Vancouver up to 96th from 110th.

Changes were even more dramatic for cities in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney, for instance, rose to 20th from 67th. Auckland, meanwhile, climbed to 80th from 115th.

The cost of living?

Mercer"s researchers priced a basket of more than 200 goods and services in each city that reflects expatriate spending habits.

The goods and services include the monthly rent for a two-bedroom luxury apartment unfurnished, the cost of a hamburger, the price of transportation and entertainment.

For one month in that two-bedroom apartment in Tokyo, you"ll drop a stunning $4,501. In Paris, you can expect to pay $2,422 and in Beijing about $3,700.

The same flat in London will cost you about $3,603, whereas in New York you"ll pay about $3,500.

The best deals are in Buenos Aires or Johannesburg, where such an apartment will only cost you about $600.

A cup of coffee with table service, meanwhile, will run you about $3.30 in New York, $5.48 in Tokyo and $1.10 in Buenos Aires.

Moscow is the world’s most expensive city
while Leipzig is the cheapest one in Europe
A report by Mercer Consulting

27 June 2006: Moscow has replaced Tokyo as the world"s most expensive city. Seoul is in second place, climbing three places since last year. Tokyo moves down two positions in the rankings to take third place, followed by Hong Kong. Asuncion in Paraguay remains the least expensive city in a survey published annually by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. With New York as the base city scoring 100 points, Moscow scores 123.9 and is nearly three times costlier than Asuncion, which has an index of 43.5.


Mercer"s survey covers 144 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world"s most comprehensive cost-of-living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

There have been some significant changes in the rankings this year, which are primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations, in particular the strengthening of the US dollar.

Europe
Moscow is the most expensive city in Europe and in the rest of the world, with a score of 123.9. "Steep accommodation costs have contributed to the city"s high ranking, as the recent property boom has driven up rental prices for expatriates," said Anna Krotova, Senior Researcher at Mercer. London is the second most expensive city in Europe and ranks in 5th position (score 110.6). "While prices have actually increased slightly over the last year, the strengthening of the dollar against the pound means London has dropped two places since last year," said Ms. Krotova.

Other costly European cities include Geneva in 7th place (103), Copenhagen in 8th (101.1) and Zurich in 9th (100.8) - all have been pushed down one place this year. Oslo remains in 10th place with a score of 100 while St. Petersburg is in 12th position (99.7).

Ms Krotova commented: "The Euro has weakened against a number of currencies, for example the Canadian and US dollars, reducing the cost of living for expatriates in many European countries."

Kiev in Ukraine has moved up from 54th position to reach 21st place (score 89.8). This is mainly due to the appreciation of the local currency, the Hryvna, against the US dollar, together with general price increases. Many other Eastern European cities have dropped sharply in the ranking due to the devaluation of local currencies against the US dollar. For example, Prague has fallen 22 places to rank 50th with a score of 82.1.

Leipzig is Europe"s cheapest city in 123rd position with a score of 68.1.

The Americas
New York remains the most expensive city in North America and climbs three places to 10th position (score 100). Currency appreciation is the main reason for this, although price increases in fuel and certain consumer goods have also contributed to New York"s rise in the rankings. Other high-ranking cities include Los Angeles in position 29 (86.7), San Francisco in 34th place (85) and Chicago in 38th position (84.1). Washington DC takes 83rd place (77). Winston Salem is the cheapest US city surveyed, ranked 124th (66.7).

"The strengthening of the US dollar against the European and other major currencies is a large contributor to the rise of most US cities in the rankings," commented Ms Powers.

Though still relatively inexpensive and benefiting from stable inflation, Canadian cities continue to move up the rankings due to the strength of the Canadian dollar. Toronto is the most expensive city in Canada and moves up from 82nd to 47th place (82.6). Ottawa remains the least expensive Canadian city but has climbed 32 places from 122nd to 90th (75.6).

Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the most expensive cities in Latin America moving up from 119th and 124th positions to 34th and 40th place respectively. These movements are due to the strong appreciation of the Brazilian Real against the US dollar (more than 20 %), which has occurred as a result of solid economic growth and increased foreign investment over the last two years, together with reduced public debt and high interest rates. In particular, the cost of international-standard accommodation has risen significantly in these cities.

Asuncion in Paraguay remains the least expensive city globally, in 144th position with a score of 43.5. Other cheap cities include Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Caracas in 142nd place (score 54.8.), 138th (56.5) and 136th (57.2) respectively.

Puerto Rico has experienced high inflation during the last year which, together with the strength of the country"s currency (US dollar), means San Juan is the costliest city in Central America and the Caribbean in 55th position (score 81.4). San Jose is the least expensive in 134th place (58.1). Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic is in 126th position (65.3) and has dropped 27 places due to the depreciation of the Dominican Peso against the US dollar.

Asia
Three of the world"s ten costliest cities are in Asia, with Seoul moving up from 5th to second place. While Tokyo has lost its title of the world most expensive city because of currency fluctuations between the Japanese Yen and the US dollar, it still ranks highly and takes third place. Hong Kong is in 4th position.

"Chinese cities have moved up slightly in the rankings as the value of the Yuan renminbi is now pegged to a number of currencies rather than just the US dollar," said Ms Krotova. Beijing is in position 14 (score 94.9) followed by Shanghai in 20th place (91.2).

Australasia
Auckland and Wellington have dropped in the rankings this year to positions 100 and 105 respectively (scores 72.9 and 71.1) due to the significant devaluation of the New Zealand dollar against the US dollar. Sydney is still the most expensive city in the region at 19th place with a score of 91.3. Melbourne occupies 74th place (78.8) while Brisbane is in 99th position (73.2).

The world"s 50 most expensive big cities
(The index is based on cost of living expressed in US dollars. Therefore, if the dollar weakens against the local currency of a city, the city becomes more expensive and moves up the index, even if prices expressed in local currency remain the same or even go down.)

Rank (2006)	Rank (2005)	City	Country
1	4	Moscow	Russia
2	5	Seoul	South Korea
3	1	Tokyo	Japan
4	=8	Hong Kong	China
5	3	London	UK
6	2	Osaka	Japan
7	6	Geneva	Switzerland
8	=8	Copenhagen	Denmark
9	7	Zurich	Switzerland
=10	10	Oslo	Norway
=10	=13	New York	USA
12	15	St Petersburg	Russia
13	12	Milan	Italy
14	19	Beijing	China
=15	23	Istanbul	Turkey
=15	12	Paris	France
17	=34	Singapore	Singapore
18	=13	Dublin	Ireland
19	20	Sydney	Australia
20	30	Shanghai	China
=21	17	Rome	Italy
=21	-	Kiev	Ukraine
=21	16	Vienna	Austria
24	39	Tel Aviv	Israel
=25	21	Helsinki	Finland
=25	-	Dubai	United Arab Emirates
27	22	Douala	Cameroon
28	29	Taipei	Taiwan
29	44	Los Angeles	USA
30	-	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
31	-	Lagos	Nigeria
=32	-	Beirut	Lebanon
=32	=50	Hanoi	Vietnam
=34	-	Sao Paulo	Brazil
=34	=50	San Francisco	USA
36	18	Stockholm	Sweden
37	-	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam
38	-	Chicago	USA
39	-	Miami	USA
40	-	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil
=41	-	Lusaka	Zambia
=41	24	Amsterdam	Netherlands
43	45	White Plains	USA
44	-	Shenzen	China
=45	26	Abidjan	Ivory Coast
=45	36	Dakar	Senegal
47	-	Toronto	Canada
=48	-	Jakarta	Indonesia
=48	31	Bratislava	Slovak Republic
50	28	Prague	Czech Republic

Notes:
The figures for Mercer"s cost of living comparisons are based on a survey conducted in March 2006. The 2006 comparisons are based on a similar survey conducted in March 2005. Exchange rates used in cost comparisons: £1 = US$1.75; £1 GBP = ?1.46




莫斯科成全球物价最高城市 北京上海进入前20名

2006-06-27 04:44:00　来源: 人民网(北京)　

世界上物价最高的城市是哪里？东京？纽约？巴黎？都不是。据美国彭博社6月26日报道，美国美世人力资源咨询公司（Mercer H uman R e so u rce C o n su lting）的调查发现，俄罗斯首都莫斯科在2006年已经超过日本的东京，成为世界上物价最高的城市。

最新调查显示俄罗斯首都莫斯科已经取代日本东京成为世界物价最高的城市。

紧随其后的是韩国首都首尔，第三名才是日本首都东京。纽约是美国物价最高的城市，但在全世界的排名中只居第十位。而巴黎是第十五位，在北京和伊斯坦布尔之后。南美国家巴拉圭首都亚松森依然保住了世界上生活费用最低廉城市的地位。

位于纽约的美世人力资源咨询公司在今年3月调查了全世界144个城市的200多件商品的价格，它发现一杯咖啡加服务费在莫斯科约为3．07美元，在首尔约为2．94美元，在纽约为2．26美元，在伦敦约为1．90美元。

而2005年人均GDP在世界百位左右的中国这次却有两个城市进入前20名，它们是第十四位的北京和第二十位的上海。这一排名不仅远远超过了第83位的美国首都华盛顿，也把英美除伦敦、纽约之外的许多城市都甩到了身后。

以下依次为全球物价最昂贵的20个城市排行顺序：莫斯科、首尔、东京、香港、伦敦、大阪、日内瓦、哥本哈根、苏黎世、奥斯陆、纽约、圣彼得堡、米兰、北京、伊斯坦布尔、巴黎、新加坡、都柏林、悉尼、上海