SCIENCE / DEMOGRAPHY

List: Top Ten Most Expensive Cities in the World

Date: July 2006

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Base: Mercer's annual Cost of Living Survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. 'Cost of Living Indices' reflect constant weighting and basket items. They use New York as the 'base city' where the Index rating = 100.

Notes: The link to Mercer Consulting above will take you to a top 50 ranking plus a break down of how the results were achieved and other interesting data. Moscow was the world's most expensive city for the second consecutive year. London came in second, climbing three places since the previous year. Seoul moved down one to third place, followed by Tokyo in fourth. Asuncion in Paraguay was the least expensive city for the fifth year running.