Reference: Lists and Rankings: Mercer's 2011 Cost of Living Survey–Cities

From a Mercer Announcement:

Luanda in Angola is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the second year running, according to Mercer’s 2011 Cost of Living Survey. Tokyo remains in second position and N’Djamena in Chad in third place. Moscow follows in fourth position with Geneva in fifth and Osaka in sixth. Zurich jumps one position to rank seventh, while Hong Kong drops down to ninth.

New entries in the top 10 list of the costliest cities in the world are Singapore (8), up from 11, and São Paolo (10), which has jumped 11 places since the 2010 ranking. Karachi (214) is ranked as the world’s least expensive city, and the survey found that Luanda, in top place, is more than three times as costly as Karachi. Recent world events, including natural disasters and political upheavals, have impacted the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices.

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The survey covers 214 cities across five 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 designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expatriates – plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.

The announcement also includes some analysis (by region/country) and a list of the Top 50 Cities.

New York is the most expensive city in the United States. It ranks #32 overall. LA (#77) and Chicago ($108) are next but dropped “significantly” vs. last year.

Toronto is the most expensive city in Canada (#59 overall) up 17 spots and replaces Vancouver ($65) for first place in Canada. Ottawa (#114) is the least expensive city in the country.

Direct to Full Summary and List

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