The World’s Most Expensive Cities

Which city had the highest cost of living last year? Moscow, Russia according to the 2007 Cost of Living Survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Moscow was followed by London, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong to round out the top 5. On the flip side, Asuncion in Paraguay is ranked as the world’s least expensive city for the fifth year running. BoingBoing lists the top 15 cities if you’re interested and also shows the top 15 cities from the Quality of Living Survey released in April.

Photo courtesy of CNN

How did North America fare? Only New York and Los Angeles were among the 50 most expensive cities to live in, while Canada’s most expensive city, Toronto, dropped 35 places in the rankings to number 82.

According to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting press release, “The decline of most US cities in the ranking can be attributed to the depreciation of the US dollar against the Euro and other major currencies worldwide. The change reflects a reversal of the situation experienced this time last year, when the majority of US cities climbed the ranking due to the strength of the dollar”.

It sure looks like the US dollar isn’t doing so well. When I went to Europe 2 years ago, 1 Euro was equal to about 1.22 US dollars. Now, it’s 1.34 dollars. That means your dollars can’t buy you as much overseas. However, I guess it’s good for the US tourist industry since it’s now “cheaper” for travelers to visit the United States.