Some papers reported that Tokyo has replaced Hong Kong as the world's "most expensive city" title. The survery, which is about the cost-of-living including housing, food, transportation and entertainment, is from foreigners' point of view.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTop 20 Cities (with last year's ranking):
1. Tokyo, Japan (3)
2. Moscow, Russia (2)
3. Osaka, Japan (6)
4. Hong Kong, China (1)
5. Beijing, China (4)
6. Geneva, Switzerland (28)
7. London, U.K. (10)
8. Seoul, South Korea (9)
9. Zurich, Switzerland (32)
10. New York, United States (7)
11. Shanghai, China (5)
12. St. Petersburg, Russia (8)
13. Oslo, Norway (40)
14. Hanoi, Vietnam (11)
15. Copenhagen, Denmark (62)
16. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (14)
17. Milan, Italy (63)
18. Shenzen (13) and Guangzhou, China (11) (tied)
20. White Plains, United States (16)
Yes, Tokyo is a very costly city. Taxi fares start at JPY 660 ($5.50), trains' at JPY 130 ($1.1), movies' at JPY 2000 ($16.7). Restaurants are really expensive. With some wine, you may need JPY 10000 ($83.3) for a person. Still, I think London is almost as expensive as Tokyo.
Interesting observation is that Asian cities ranked very high and Canadian cities ranked low (under top 100 out of some 200 cities). I wondered food/restaurants cost have an impact.
BTW, it is a bit interesting to know the difference in the reports among these papers...
Tokyo named costliest city in world Strong euro raises cost-of-living rank across EuropeBy JAMES BROOKE
THE NEW YORK TIMESTOKYO -- Defying notions about Japanese deflation, Tokyo is again the most expensive city in the world.
A 4 percent drop in the exchange value of the dollar against the Japanese yen helped put Tokyo in first place and Osaka in third place in an annual cost-of-living survey of 144 major world cities conducted in March by Mercer Human Resources Consulting of Geneva, a Marsh & McLennan company.
With cab fares starting at $5, $10,000-a-month apartment rents not uncommon and intercity rail travel expensive, Tokyo residents and visitors find daily life expensive.
Tokyo Ranked World's Most Expensive City By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTokyo Replaces Hong Kong as World's Costliest City By REUTERS
Filed at 7:14 a.m. ETLONDON (AP) -- Tokyo dethroned Hong Kong as the world's most expensive city in an annual cost-of-living survey released Monday, while the surging euro currency sent European cities climbing in the rankings.
U.S. cities saw their ranking fall in the survey of 144 urban areas around the world because of a weakened dollar against European and Asian currencies.
Filed at 10:54 a.m. ET
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Tokyo has replaced Hong Kong as the world's most expensive city, according to a lifestyle survey that also showed the gap between the world's costliest and cheapest cities narrowing for a sixth straight year.
Moscow held steady in second place, followed by the western Japanese city of Osaka, which went up three places from 2002. At the other end, Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, replaced Johannesburg as the cheapest city in the world.