Tel Aviv has moved up to rank as the world's 33rd most expensive city, according to the latest cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Last year, Tel Aviv ranked at number 40.
Tokyo remains the world’s most expensive city. London moves up five places in the rankings to take second position, followed by Moscow which moves down a place this year. Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the survey.
“There have been some dramatic movements in the rankings this year which are largely due to currency fluctuations, particularly of the US dollar and the Euro,” said Mercer senior researcher Marie-Laurence Sepede. The data is used to help multinational companies to determine compensation allowances for their expatriate workers.
With New York as the base city scoring 100 points, Tokyo scores 130.7 and is more than three times costlier than Asuncion which has an index of 42.7.
The gap between the world’s most and least expensive cities has narrowed only marginally this year, by less than two points compared to four points last year and 15 points in 2002.
The survey covers 144 cities and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location. These include housing, food, clothing and household goods as well as transportation and entertainment.
Europe
London is the most expensive city in Europe, with a score of 119. High accommodation and transport costs together with the appreciation of the pound against the US dollar have pushed the city up in the rankings. Glasgow and Birmingham rank lower in the UK at positions 41 and 51 respectively (scores 84.1 and 82.8).
After London, Geneva is the next most expensive city in Europe ranked in 6th position (106.2) followed by Copenhagen in 8th place (102.2). Other high scoring cities include Zurich ranked 9th (101.6), Milan ranked 13th (98.7), Dublin in 14th place (96.9), Oslo in 15th place (96.2) and Paris in 17th position (94.8). Sepede said, “Since the Euro was introduced in 2002, many European cities have moved up in the rankings.”
At the other extreme, three of the five cheapest European cities are in countries that gained EU accession in May. Bucharest in Romania is the least expensive European city ranked 129 (60.1) followed by Limassol in Cyprus in 95th place (70.3).
The Americas
New York remains the most expensive city in North America, at 12th position in the rankings (score 100). Other costly cities include Los Angeles ranked 27 (86.6), Chicago in 35th place (84.5) and San Francisco in 38th place (84.3). Pittsburgh is the cheapest US city surveyed, ranked 112 (66.5). All the US cities have dropped in the rankings due to the depreciation of the dollar against European, Canadian and Asian Pacific currencies.
Though still relatively inexpensive, Canadian cities continue to move up in the rankings due to the strength of the Canadian dollar. Toronto is in 89th place (71.8) and has become more expensive than a number of US cities. Ottawa is the least expensive Canadian city and takes 124th position (62.6).
Since the devaluation of the Argentinean currency in 2002 and the subsequent financial crisis, cities in Latin America have become among the cheapest in the survey. Asuncion is the least expensive city globally, at 144th position with a score of 42.7. Other cheap cities include Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Bogotá in places 143 (score 47.2), 141 (47.7) and 139 (48.6) respectively. At the other extreme, Lima in Peru is the most expensive city in Latin America, at position 118 with a score of 63.6.
San Juan in Puerto Rico is the costliest city in Central America and the Caribbean, ranked 65 (score 77.9). Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic is the least expensive, in 142nd place (47.3), due to a dramatic devaluation in the local currency, high inflation and a bank crisis that hit the country last year.
Asia
Four of the world’s ten costliest cities are in Asia, with Tokyo being the most expensive city globally. Osaka takes 4th position (116.1) followed by Hong Kong in 5th place (109.5) and Seoul, ranked 7th (104.1). Chinese cities, though still relatively expensive, have dropped in the rankings, as the Chinese currency is pegged to the US dollar and has therefore been affected by its depreciation. Beijing is at position 11 (score 101.1) followed by Shanghai in 16th place (95.3).
Australasia
Cities in Australia and New Zealand have risen most in the rankings this year due to the significant appreciation of local currencies against the US dollar. Sydney is the most expensive city in the region, increasing from 67th place in 2003 to 20th position, with a score of 91.8. Other high-scoring cities in Australia include Melbourne in 67th position (77.5) and Brisbane in 87th place (72.7). Auckland is the costliest city in New Zealand, ranked 80 with a score of 74.2. Though they have increased in the rankings this year, these cities continue to rate among the highest for high quality of life.
Mercer’s quality of life survey results, published in March 2004, compared 215 cities worldwide and evaluated them by 39 quality of life factors including political, economic, and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.
Cost of Living Survey 2004 Index Summary Top 50 Cities
| RANK '04 | RANK '03 | CITY | INDEX '04 | INDEX '03 |
| 1 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | 130.7 | 126.1 |
| 2 | 7 | London, UK | 119 | 101.3 |
| 3 | 2 | Moscow, Russia | 117.4 | 114.5 |
| 4 | 3 | Osaka, Japan | 116.1 | 112.2 |
| 5 | 4 | Hong Kong | 109.5 | 111.6 |
| 6 | 6 | Geneva, Switzerland | 106.2 | 101.8 |
| 7 | 8 | Seoul, South Korea | 104.1 | 101 |
| 8 | 15 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 102.2 | 89.4 |
| 9 | 9 | Zurich, Switzerland | 101.6 | 100.3 |
| 10 | 12 | St.Petersburg, Russia | 101.4 | 97.3 |
| 11 | 5 | Beijing, China | 101.1 | 105.1 |
| 12 | 10 | New York City, USA | 100 | 100 |
| 13 | 17 | Milan, Italy | 98.7 | 87.2 |
| 14 | 21 | Dublin, Ireland | 96.9 | 86 |
| 15 | 13 | Oslo, Norway | 96.2 | 92.7 |
| 16 | 11 | Shanghai, China | 95.3 | 98.4 |
| 17 | 23 | Paris, France | 94.8 | 84.3 |
| 18 | 42 | Istanbul, Turkey | 93.5 | 78.8 |
| 19 | 34 | Vienna, Austria | 92.5 | 82.4 |
| 20 | 67 | Sydney, Australia | 91.8 | 73.7 |
| 21 | 41 | Rome, Italy | 90.5 | 79 |
| 22 | 48 | Stockholm, Sweden | 89.5 | 78.2 |
| 23 | 36 | Helsinki, Finland | 88.8 | 80.9 |
| 24 | 35 | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | 88.7 | 81.3 |
| 25 | 31 | Douala, Cameroon | 88.3 | 82.9 |
| 26 | 52 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 88.1 | 76.8 |
| 27 | 22 | Los Angeles, USA | 86.6 | 85.6 |
| 28 | 58 | Berlin, Germany | 85.7 | 75.3 |
| 29 | 14 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 85.6 | 89.5 |
| 30 | 18 | Shenzhen, China | 85.6 | 86.7 |
| 31 | 29 | Taipei, Taiwan | 85.3 | 83.5 |
| 32 | 18 | Guangzhou, China | 84.9 | 86.7 |
| 33 | 40 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 84.8 | 79.1 |
| 34 | 37 | Budapest, Hungary | 84.5 | 80.2 |
| 35 | 25 | Chicago, USA | 84.5 | 83.9 |
| 36 | 16 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 84.5 | 88.5 |
| 37 | 25 | Beirut, Lebanon | 84.3 | 83.9 |
| 38 | 30 | San Francisco, USA | 84.3 | 83 |
| 39 | 66 | Luxembourg | 84.3 | 74 |
| 40 | 63 | Dusseldorf, Germany | 84.3 | 74.2 |
| 41 | 74 | Glasgow, UK | 84.1 | 72.3 |
| 42 | 65 | Frankfurt, Germany | 84 | 74.1 |
| 43 | 62 | Munich, Germany | 84 | 74.4 |
| 44 | 56 | Bratislava, Slovak Republic | 83.9 | 75.7 |
| 45 | 38 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 83.9 | 80 |
| 46 | 32 | Singapore | 83.6 | 82.8 |
| 47 | 56 | Dakar, Senegal | 83.4 | 75.7 |
| 48 | 27 | Riga, Latvia | 83.3 | 83.7 |
| 49 | 49 | Prague, Czech Republic | 83.3 | 78.1 |
| 50 | 71 | Athens, Greece | 82.9 | 72.9 |
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on Monday, June 14, 2004