Moscow is World's Most Expensive City

Moscow has overtaken Tokyo to become the most expensive city in the world in 2006, according to a survey conducted recently.

Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were ranked second, third and fourth. London dropped from third place to fifth this year.

The company that conducted the survey, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, covered 144 cities around the world. The survey took into account the prices of 200 different living costs, including housing, communication and food.

Analysts said that fluctuation of the exchange rate is the biggest factor influencing the order of the list. The rising cost of real estate helped make Moscow the most expensive city on the list.

London and Geneva were the two other most expensive cities in Europe, which were fifth and seventh on the list. New York City is still the most expensive city in North America, followed by Los Angeles and San Francisco.

By People's Daily Online