SCIENCE / DEMOGRAPHY

List: Top Ten Most Expensive Cities for Expatriates in the World

Date: March 2009

Source: Mercer

Base: In this survey New York is used as the 'base city' where the Index rating = 100 and other cities valued against the US dollar. Mercer's defined factors that dictate expatriate cost of living are a list of 200 goods or services in each city, including the cost of renting a luxury two-bedroom unfurnished apartment per month, a bus or underground ride, petrol (gas), coffee and milk.

Notes: Tokyo replaced Moscow as the world's most expensive city for expatriates based on this 2009 analysis. London, which came in third in the 2008 survey dropped out of the top ten as property rental values dropped and the dollar surged, whilst New York bounced up after being placed 22nd in 2008.