Asian cities dominate a new list of most expensive locations
ADVERTISEMENTHong Kong tops the table of the world's most expensive cities in terms of everyday cost of living. That's according to a newly-published global survey by Mercer, a company specialising in sharing of ideas and information.
Claiming six out of the top 10 spots, Asian cities dominate the list of most expensive locations for working abroad in the 2018 rankings.
The Asian metropolis pushed the West African city of Luanda off the top spot. The Angolan capital now comes in at number six.
Several European cities make the world list including London at 19, Copenhagen at 14, Geneva 11, Bern 10, and at world number three, Zurich is Europe's move expensive city to live.
The rankings are calculated based on the spending patterns among expats from different nationalities, comparing prices for similar brands and from similar retail outlets in both the home and the host city. In this way, a cost-of-living index can be compiled.
One city of note this time around is the Portuguese capital Lisbon that has made the top 100 for the first time coming in at 93, a move up of 44 places.
Some of the cheapest cities to live in Europe are in the east. They included the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, Serbia's largest city Belgrade, Romanian and Bulgarian capitals Bucharest and Sofia, and the capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Skopje.
The survey shows some big differences depending on products. Coffee, for instance, varies wildly.
In the South Korean capital, Seoul, a cup of coffee costs, on average around, 12 dollars, compared to four dollars in New York.
A hamburger in Zurich is 15 dollars, but only five in Hong Kong, and seven in London.
But when it comes to cinema tickets the British capital is way out in front at almost 25 dollars.
Of course, you do not have to go to the cinema, but the chances are you do need to buy fuel for your car, and while Hong Kong comes out the most expensive Paris is not far behind. But when it comes to fuel prices, it seems we're still too much in love with our cars to refuse.